Riggio et. al. (2008) stated "followership, like leadership, is a discipline of competencies and response-abilities. The difference between response-able and responsible is the difference between something you can do and something you should do. Response-ability is readiness. Responsibility is abstract duty or job description. Leadership and followership are competencies that work in tandem as a shared discipline of reciprocal response-abilities" (p. 18). Being ready and prepared is often times the most important thing leaders and followers can be, and asking questions to alleviate ignorance and confusion and expressing doubt, concern, and even fear are ways in which a good follower and leader become ready and prepared.
I believe it is somewhat easier to ask questions and express doubt and confusion as a follower, because that is expected and even encouraged, especially by a good leader; for, how does a follower learn except by and through asking questions? However, a leader is in a more precarious situation, as questions, doubt, and confusion may lead followers to question and doubt their leadership.
Nonetheless, as a leader, one is bound to get confused and have doubts and questions, so how does a leader express doubt and confusion? As a teacher, when I get confused or have doubts and questions, I go to a fellow teacher. This is good because we do the same things and have the same problems, and a fellow teacher, I think, is less likely to look down on me for not knowing what to do. I can even go to my principals and curriculum leaders, as long as I phrase my concern properly and don't go to them all the time. But, is it OK for a teacher to express their confusion and questions to their followers, i.e. students. Is it OK for a principal to express their confusion and questions to their followers, i.e. teachers. Is is possible to do this without seeming inept or out of control?
1 comment:
For me, the answers to your last two questions are yes and yes. That is the essence of servant leadership. If a leader is needed, one thing that means is that the way is not clear and straight-forward. A part of building trust as a leader is to be honest with your followers, to lead with strength on the principles, but to share leadership with the group by drawing on their expertise. Few things are more team building and trust producing than working together through dilemmas. In my own leadership experience the teachers I was charged with leading had facts and understandings from their perspective that were missing from mine. I had the big picture vision of what we were charged with accomplishing, and what was permissable and what was not. Together we could develop a way forward.
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