Debra Finlayson
I hold a BBA, Entrepreneurial Leadership from KPU (2004) and a MA, Leadership and Change from Exeter U. UK (2012). My background in Leadership, Change Management, Business Administration, Human Resources and Adult Learning, combined with 15+ years’ experience as a senior HR professional, relationship/project manager, educator and community leader, guides my authoring and instruction for CHRM200, CHRM230 and CHRM260, at SFU.
My conference presentations include: 2024 3rd Global Followership Conference – Co-presentation – Leadership, Followership & HR: Determining, Proposing & Implementing Transformational Organizational Solutions, Strathclyde U., Glasgow, Scotland. 2023 2nd Global Followership – The Followership Ally – Christopher Newport University, Newport News, Virginia, USA; 2019 1st Global Followership Conference – A case: for increasing exemplary followership in organizations, Waterloo University, Waterloo, Canada; 2016 HRMA Conference Co-presentation: Why Leaders Fail: ‘Igniting Followership’ The Untapped Organizational Resource, Vancouver, Canada.
My academic publications include: 2021 Article: A case for increasing exemplary followership in organizations [Based on action research from the GFC1 2019 practice session], Emerald Group ; 2016 Co-authored Ch 11: The Importance of Followership and Reputation in an HR Consulting Firm: Followership in Action Cases and Commentaries, Emerald Group; 2013 PeopleTalk Article: Diversity Unified by Volunteerism.
My doctorate will build on my Followership Action Research to pragmatically develop a measurement tool that illustrates the importance of and enables organizations to increase effective Followership Skills and Attributes within their workforce. My research purpose is to increase workplace social capital through effective followership skills and shared purpose at all structural levels within the leadership process, resulting in higher productivity within teams and the Canadian workforce.
