Leadership Vs. Followership Written By: Austin Langley C/CMSgt CAP

Leadership and followership are two different things that are interdependent upon one

another. Throughout this essay I am going to compare and contrast both and explain how one

depends on the other. Both are very important to the success of the Civil Air Patrol and the

success of any other organization such as the military.

Followership is the ability to follow a leader’s example and advice. Being a good follower

does not mean taking everything the leader says as the right thing. Being a good follower

requires a good character to judge what is right and what is wrong. If a leader orders you to do

something immoral like lie or steal you have to be able to interpret these orders and decide if

they are lawful or not. But being a good follower also requires you to listen to your leader and

follow their example. Followership requires you to trust and to follow your leader. Followership

is the first step towards leadership. Someone who is not a good follower cannot become a great

leader.

Leadership is the next step from followership. Leadership requires you to be a servant leader.

You may be asking yourself what a servant leader is. A servant leader is a leader who does not

lead for personal gain or to be a boss, but rather to serve their subordinates in a way. Leaders

are made through training and experience. Some people believe that leaders are born leaders,

but I disagree. Through study experts have learned that anyone can become a leader through

hard work. Even though this is true leaders are so rare because it requires true selflessness and

a great devotion towards their team.

Leadership is not just being able to get people to do a task even if they want to do it. Being a

good leader requires good character and a clear conscience. Someone like David Ben-Gurion is

a good leader. He helped to unite many militias fighting for Israel’s Independence into one

army. An example of a monster is Adolf Hitler. He may have gotten many horrible people to

follow him but he was no leader. He committed mass genocide and started a war for no reason.

One important quote is “With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility”. That is something

good leaders live by.

In conclusion we have learned that leadership and followership are interdependent upon one

another. We have learned you cannot have one without the other. A leader without followers

cannot get anything done and a follower without a leader will have a hard time accomplishing

the mission. Learning to be a good follower is the beginning of becoming a great leader.