The purpose of this essay is to illustrate comparing and contrasting servant leadership and followership. Servant leadership and followership play an important role in the structure of the United States (U.S.) military today. When we compare followership and servant leadership, we can better understand the relationship between the styles. We will discuss the characteristic of servant leadership, as well as the unique characteristics of followership. To conclude, we will discuss the similarities between servant Leadership and followership.
Servant usually refers to someone that provides a service to people. The U.S. Army's leadership doctrinal manual defines servant leadership. “The process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation while operating to accomplish the mission and improve the organization” (Department of U.S. Army, 2006). A servant leader has a definition derived from both words’ servant and leader. “Servant leadership putting the needs of others first and helping people develop and perform as highly as possible is ingrained in the U.S. Army culture and within the NCO Corps” (MATTSON, 2013). There are ten servant leadership characteristics that affect the leadership of the U.S. Army leader. The qualities of a servant
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A follower aligns with the mission and commander's objectives. They work as part of a cohesive team and carry out the duties of Soldiers. “Followership dominates our lives and organizations, but not our thinking, because our preoccupation with leadership keeps us from considering the nature and the importance of the follower” (Kelley, 1988). A followership’s traits include flexibility, observance, and being team-oriented. Kelley demonstrates a model for five different types of followership. The followership model covers alienated and effective followers, sheep type, and yes people. Survivors play the central role in Kelley’s