Servant leadership and followership

Servant leadership and followership

Servant leadership and followership are two terms that can be contradicting when it comes to meaning in the leadership world. The two terms though, have complex differences despite also having their similarities intact. Servant leadership is a philosophy of leadership, whereby the main objective of the leaders is serving. A servant leader vest power among the junior employees. He also gives priority to the needs of the workers while helping them make progress in their work and to earn even a higher rate of performance. A servant leader reverses the norms that are expected by the people by making the customer service associates as significant elements of the organization. On the other hand, followership is the traditional system of leadership where is the readiness to cooperate in working forwards to the set objectives of the organization while showing a high magnitude of teamwork among the members. Efficient followers are those who participate actively in bringing up the leadership system. The followers permit the authorities to establish control over them in situations that are people-oriented, efficient, and productive. In this case of followership, the system dictates that the followers must willingly follow a leader. Basing on the descriptions, the two philosophies of leadership (servant leadership and followership) have their differences and similarities.

Servant leadership is heavily inclined on a selfless leader, much of whom is a server rather than a commander whom the followership philosophy would demand. In the servant leadership arena, the leader tends to believe that the satisfaction of their junior workers is an essential fuel to successful working (Paris & Peachey, 2013). When a worker feels that they are being appreciated for who they are in their workplace, there is no reason as to why they will not give their best on the other hand when it comes to serving the needs of the company. The servant leadership philosophy erases the thought that lies in the mind of many people in leadership where the people are supposed to work in serving the leaders. Instead, in this approach, it is the leader who works to serve the people. Everything lies in the hands of the people, that is including power; the leader is just an accountable and transparent person in handling the affairs of the leadership. Whenever there is a need for a singular voice is when the leader comes to intervene, but even in this, he must first listen to the people. In the servant leadership, it does not mean that the leader does not have power; it only shows that they are not self-centered. According to Robert K. Greenleaf, in servant leadership, a leader should focus on whether those who are being served grow in personal entities. While the workers are being served, the philosophy questions whether they are becoming more autonomous, healthier, freer, and wiser, or they are more likely to become servants.

On the other hand, followership being the traditional approach, has different perspectives. In this system, the belief is that there cannot be a leader if there are no followers. What guarantees that there is a leader is the presence of another group of people who are following his philosophies. The leader in this approach is there to be served and listened to by the people. He is there as a head, not as a subordinate member. In the followership philosophy, the primary role of the followers is helping in the implementation of the ideologies of the leader (Chou, 2012). They are there to anchor him towards effectiveness while still withholding their values and basic needs, making significant leadership contributions and also portray skills of self-management. They are supposed to efficient anchors even during the times when the leaders are in absentia. As for the leaders, the main aim of holding the positions is to make sure that the goals of the organizations are achieved on time and according to the objectives of the company. Failure in goal achievement also means failure in the hands of the leader in question.

Despite their differences, the two are similar in that all the efforts put forward are towards the success of the subject organization. For servant leadership, the leader, in that case, is serving the people and helping them improve their personal lives for a mutual benefit. This is in that; when the employee achieves personal growth, the organization will, in return, grow because they will also develop in their engagement and commitment. Hence while the employee benefits from the service of the leader, the organization will also be meriting from the commitment of the worker. Similarly, followership leadership also directs the energies towards the success of the organization at large and not just either of the parties. The leader, in this case, works hand in hand with his junior employees towards achieving the goals as the team at large sets them. Followership comes as a teamwork system where the people have to work in conjunction only that there is a team leader who has a more prominent voice in this philosophy.