Leadership plays a significant role in any organization, especially in the army, where discipline and increased motivation are important. The two main types of leadership are effective follower and servant leadership (Gandolfi & Stone, 2018). The primary difference between these approaches is the focus: follower leadership focuses on people, while servant leadership focuses on the qualities of the leader. At the same time, the approaches are similar, since they pursue the common goal of bringing participants together.
Servant leadership emphasizes the importance of a leader, indicating that they must be presentable and persuasive. Follower leadership emphasizes the members’ qualities: critical thinking and commitment (Khan, 2021). The main similarity lies in the close relationship between the leader and the team. The leader cannot lead effectively without listening to the followers, while the members must understand the leader for competent interaction. Both models encourage sensitivity and mutual assistance, which is very important for the army structure.
The main difference between the two models of organizing interaction lies in the point of focus. The leader in servant leadership is the key to the well-being of the followers, concentrating decision-making power. In follower leadership, it is the followers who have the ability to influence decision making. In this model, passivity and lack of critical thinking are the most negative qualities of a follower. In servant leadership, subordinates should unquestioningly agree with the leader, increasing the significance of this figure. For the army, servant leadership is most relevant to achieving the goals. The subordinates of such a leader are aware of the inviolability of authority (Sullivan, 2019). The participants still have critical thinking, but the command of the leader is undeniable. The type of servant leader suits the army as a strictly hierarchical organization.
References
Gandolfi, F., & Stone, S. (2018). Leadership, leadership styles, and servant leadership. Journal of Management Research, 18(4), 261-269.
Khan, S.N. (ed.). (2021). Leadership and Followership in an Organizational Change Context. United States: IGI Global.
Sullivan, G. S. (2019). Servant Leadership: Philosopher’s Perspective. In Servant Leadership in Sport (pp. 41-65). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.