Compare and Contrast Servant Leadership and Followership
Followership and servant leadership are two philosophies that are used by leaders of today when working with soldiers on a day-to-day basis. Leaders can't work alone, and it is for this reason that they need the assistance and help of the soldiers who are under them. In both of these roles, there has to be mutual respect and patience, selflessness and versatility, and awareness of oneself and those around.
A servant leader thrives upon the idea of having to gather ideas from others during the decision making process (McAuley, 2016). Servant leadership is grounded upon the army ethics and values that allow for the development of soldiers. A servant leader provides inspirational motivation to the juniors by how they perform their tasks and this serves as an example to them (Harber & McMaster, 2018). Servant leadership is not focused on individual benefits but rather on the benefits of the whole group. Servant leadership personifies values like honesty, humility, and integrity.
Followership is defined as reaching a particular goal while exercising respect for authority, having a positive attitude, self-discipline, and integrity (Adair et al., 2016). The first characteristic that is connected to followership is trust. A leader should ensure that they act in a manner that is transparent and worthy of trust at all times. The actions of the leader should be deemed as respectful and professional. The second characteristic is strong serving his or her organization. Followership pushes for one to recognize his or her strengths and how these strengths can influence those who they work with. The last characteristic is taking responsibility for ones actions.
In conclusion, followership and servant leadership are both similar in that they require a leader to have good morals, trust, serve others, and act professionally. The differences between the two are that servant leadership brings others to the decision-making table. Followers only offer help when needed.
References
Adair, R., Agarwala, T., Armstead, S., Berg, P., Bisschoff, T., Blair, B. A., . . . Francis, A. (2016). Followership in Action.
Harber, G. G., & McMaster, C. C. (2018). ? Adapting Servant Leadership to Follower Maturity: A Dynamic Leadership Approach for a Diverse Environment. Servant Leadership: Theory & Practice, 5(1), 5.
McAuley, C. D. (2016). Servant leadership, exemplary followership, and organizational trust: A quantitative correlational study in performing arts organizations. University of Phoenix.
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