CFP Global Followership Conferences 2026 hosted by the Global Followership Network
We champion the powerful and often overlooked force of followership-essential to thriving teams, organizations, and communities. We're here to elevate followership as a vital complement to leadership, one that unlocks performance, fosters collaboration, and strengthens impact across every sector.
Why followership?
Because leadership doesn't work alone. Followership is the other half of the equation-and when we nurture it, organizations see performance gains of 17–43%. It's time to recognize followership as a skill set and a key driver of success.
We're building a balanced, forward-looking view of leadership and followership in research, training & development, education, business, and society. Whether you're a newcomer, a curious learner, or a seasoned expert, you belong here.
THEME:
Exploring Followership Contexts
DATES & PLACES:
- Global Followership Conference 2026 (Asia-Pacific): April 1st-2nd, 2026 Meanjin/Brisbane, Australia. Queensland University of Technology
- Global Followership Conference 2026 (North America): July 9th-11th, 2026 Indiana, USA – Indiana Wesleyan University
- Additional Conferences: TBD
SUBMISSION DEADLINE:
- Asia-Pacific: December 15, 2025
- North America: February 28, 2026
ABOUT THE THEME:
- What does it mean to follow well? What does it mean in different contexts?
Although research and practice are beginning to identify some common behaviors of effective following, frequently, the answer to the question of what it means to follow and how best to do it is: "It depends." It depends on the cultural context – global, regional, national, local, organizational – in which leading and following occur. It depends on the purpose that brings people together. It depends on implicit theories about leadership and followership held by organizational, social, or political members. It depends on the industry or sector. It might even depend on what is meant by the term leadership or followership, and even if such a word exists in a specific language or culture.
While the theme for 2026 is Exploring Followership Contexts, it does not mean all proposals need to be on the topic: we want to encourage diversity and innovation, and this is still a young discipline! If you are passionate about a followership topic, send in a proposal.
If you do want to embrace the theme, here are some areas of context to consider (even more examples are provided in the Appendix):
- Followership and Indigenous Knowledges
- Followership and Culture
- Effective Followership in an Industry or Sector
- Faith and Followership
- Managing Toxic Followership
- Challenging Destructive Leadership
- Followership Training & Development
- Followership Research
- Leadership-Followership Systems
- Followership in Disguise
- Teaching Leadership/Followership
- Inclusive Followership
We are eager to hear from people with expertise in specific sectors and verticals such as Government, Not-for-profits, Engineering, Accounting, Military, etc. What does effective followership look like in your context?
Again, these are only meant to be ideas to get the juices flowing. If you already have something to share, and something to say, do so. We want to hear from you.
WHO THESE CONFERENCES ARE FOR
These are "pracademic" conferences where important questions can be asked and discussed with engaged and passionate colleagues. The emphasis will be on creating new knowledge, improving practice, engaging in inquiry and personal discovery, developing connections, and building community.
As a result, we are looking for submissions that will appeal to different audiences including:
- Academics
- OD practitioners, L&D professionals, and HR partners
- Organizational Trainers
- Teachers (at all levels but particularly university-level)
- Business and organization executives
- Consultants
- and Students
SUBMISSION TYPES
Five types of submissions are encouraged. Multiple submissions are allowed. When you submit, you can choose which conference or conferences you are submitting for. One submission can be used to present at both the Australasia and GFC 5 conferences, if you wish.
Click on the links below for details of what is required for each submission:
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Organization/Business/Practice talk or workshop. An interactive demonstration or experiential session rooted in participation and active learning. Examples include programmatic development in business, government, military, or other settings; case studies; followership pedagogy; how to add followership to a leadership development program; how to talk to people (executives and others) about followership; etc. We are actively seeking people willing to share their training methods, new skill development, or teaching techniques. Sessions can be 30-60 minutes long. Occasionally, we will accept longer workshops so let us know in your submission if this is the case.
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Lightning talks. Do you have a quick story to share? A short presentation on a topic? Or just a brief update on your latest research project? We will have a time slot for you to present in a fun, fast-paced and always popular session. Lightning talks are 5-minute, timed presentations and all followership-related ideas will be accepted. The purpose here is to allow for all voices to be heard. Every year, this is one of the most highly rated sessions at the conference!
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Facilitated session (including panels). The purpose of facilitated sessions is to spark new ideas and conversations, to bring people together to uncover new ideas, develop new streams of research and explore important or controversial applications of followership. Facilitated sessions must be at least 80% participant discussion or activity-based, though panels can be less, and your submission will need to convince the programming committee of that. Facilitated sessions may be 15 to 90 minutes in length, depending on the topic you choose and the format of the session. Some facilitated sessions might be grouped together to create a World Café.
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Research presentation. Empirical and theoretical talks on followership are strongly encouraged. Possible submission types include qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods studies, experimental results, case studies, theory development and critique, survey development, model building, and historical and cultural analyses. Submissions may be grouped by theme, with each participant having 10-15 minutes to present or, in a small number of cases, a longer slot.
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Poster. Posters are a way to spark discussion as much as convey information. Poster sessions allow participants to quickly find topics of interest and engage directly with the creator. It is a way to share information that is more two-way than a typical research talk. We particularly want to invite people who have not presented at a conference before, including graduate students starting out on their research journey, to consider submitting a poster.
If you have never submitted a proposal before and want some help or advice on how to do it, contact us at: programming@globalfollowership.com.
SUBMIT YOUR PROPOSAL
The deadline for all proposals is either Dec. 15, 2025, 11:59 PM QLD AEST (Asia-Pacific), or Feb. 28, 2026, 11:59 PM EST (North America). All proposals should use the submission form: SUBMISSION FORM. Let us know if you need an earlier decision for your proposal to obtain funding to attend one of the conferences.
For assistance or questions about the CFP: programming@globalfollowership.com.
For more information: https://www.globalfollowership.com/
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Leah Sciabarrasi, PhD
Chair, ILA Followership Community
lsciabarrasi@excelsior.eduAssociate Dean of Business
Excelsior University
Buffalo, NY - Go Bills!
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