Followership, like Leadership, Is a Role, and Not a Destination - Michael McKinney

SPC Chalmers, Indira

Basic Leadership Course

009-18

20180915

                   Any given team consists of two components: a leader and followers. These two always come hand in hand. A leader cannot effectively operate without the followers and vice versa. If there is a mission that needs to be accomplished, it takes both leadership and followership to function in order for the job to be done. “Followership, like leadership, is a role, and not a destination” -Michael McKinney. A leader would not be a leader without the followers.

                    Leadership is often praised to the disadvantage of followership. Some people may think that it is not easy to be a leader, that anybody could be a follower. However, being a follower is not a negative thing. While a good leader is a great communicator and someone who is able to inspire and motivate others, a good follower has many positive qualities as well. A good follower has a great attitude, open-mind and is a good team player. He/she is flexible, reliable, and always willing to help. A difference between a leader and a follower is that a leader has additional duties in the team, such as setting goals for the team, leading the team towards their common goal, sharing his/her knowledge and experience with the followers. If the team is making any progress, then keeping them informed and assessing the followers on how much contribution they are making into the team.

                   Even if a person is a great leader, some missions cannot be accomplished on his/her own. This is where a good team of followers’ joint effort comes in handy. For example, the given task is to conduct a fundraiser at local school to come up with money to send the kids from low-income families to summer camp. A great leader may come up with a good idea on how to accomplish this, but bringing his/her plan into

reality will not be possible without a group of followers. The followers pitch in with ideas as well, follow the directions, work as a team and in the end will bring the planned goal into realization.

                     If both the leader and the followers of the team have the above-mentioned attributes, that team will be successful at every task that it is given to them. "None of us is as smart as all of us" -Ken Blanchard.  A leader would not be able to accomplish his/her mission without a group of followers.  

References

Koestenbaum, P. (1991) Leadership: the inner side of greatness. 

Retrieved from:

McKinney, M. (1996) www.scholar.google.com

Blanchard,K. (2018)  www.ink.com