Most wouldn’t consider the terms “follower ship” and “servant leadership” to be interchangeable, and closer to being contrary than to synonymous. However, follower ship and leadership are the means of being proficient at those roles, which, in actuality, require many of the same attributes.
Being a servant leader can be defined as the ability to instruct and inform others in the means of bringing people together to achieve a combined goal and, also, places themselves among those who follow by sharing duty and consequences. A follower can be defined as a person who collaborates with others under a single authority in order to contribute to the accomplishment of a task. These roles are perpendicular to each other, however, in order to be adept at them, you must share many of the same characteristics.
Empathy, and intellect, are just some of the aspects it takes to be a servant leader and productive follower. A servant leader needs empathy so to not give instructions to their soldiers that they wouldn’t do themselves. A follower needs Empathy to understand their peers and the leader in why they should conduct the missions they have received. Intellect is important for a leader so they know the best way to appoint duty’s and conduct the mission in order to be successful. A leaders job is to give direction, however, they do not micro manage their subordinates, thus, the followers must have the intelligence to preform their task efficiently and in a timely manor.
There does exist differences, however. A major difference is the starting point. In order to be a proficient servant leader, you must start as a follower and understand the perspective of having respect and loyalty for you’re leader. In opposition, to make a proficient follower, it is ill-advised to start as a leader. Someone who desires to be a leader without striving to first be a follower typically have immoral or dangerous motives such as to speak power and control. Secondly, a follower doesn’t need the extent of presence and persuasion as a servant leader does. A servant leader needs presence in order to lead by example to to give a standard. Similarly, they also need persuasion to let the followers feel confidence and purpose behind their duties, whereas, a follower doesn’t require these traits to be sufficient.
To conclude, in order to attain proficient servant leadership, they must understand and consider those below them as equal to themselves and to possess the same quality’s they want from their followers. Furthermore, followers must hold themselves to mostly the same criteria in which they ask of a leader in order for the relationship to achieve unison and consensus allowing for optimum results.
