MSLD 511 Module 1 - Two-Way Street
Northouse (2016) indicated that leadership is a process and leaders affect and are affected by followers. Northouse further discussed that leadership involves influence. Think about a leader you have worked for, whom you have influenced. In what ways did you influence the leader? How did the relationship develop? What was one important way in which you were impacted by your relationship with that leader?
Leadership and followership go hand-in-hand as most of us in the MSLD program already know. This wasn't just a known fact since the beginning of our careers. It took time for us to realize the link between leaders and followers and to understand that they can affect each other in more ways than one. As we have come to know, leaders don't solely affect followers. Followers can affect leaders by contributing new ideas, communicating morale, and making sure their leaders remain abreast of what is going on within the organization in a helpful manner.
I had a leader that I worked for a few years back that I heavily influenced in quite a few different ways. Although this leader didn't seek out my help, when I did approach him about issues, he listened and took heed to my suggestions. The ideas that I came up with and the way that I conducted myself seemed to rub off on him. I would notice that his e-mails would sound similar to the ones that I would send him. When he would send out e-mail correspondence to the entire work center, the e-mails sounded similar to my own. I also noticed that he would pass ideas on that I would come up with as his own when distributing them to the work center.
These actions taught me the power of a follower. It was the first time that I had taken notice of a leader (positional sense). I had come to realize what positional power was as it pertained to leadership. Before I had taken any leadership courses, this was "Leadership 101" without the the academic portion. It was the natural and most memorable way of learning leadership. This leader and myself didn't form much more of a relationship past what I have already described and that was unfortunate. What was positive and important in this situation though? It was the paradigm shift in my perception of leadership and followership.
I was able to see now how much followers could be an influence. How a follower who had leadership tendencies could influence a positional leader. As a military member, you are often blinded by positional leadership due to the discipline and respect that is supposed to be given to those who outrank you. At this particular point in my career, I was able to see how my own leadership impacted another whose positional power was superior. The classic example of Northouse's (2016) explanation of assigned vs. emergent leadership and the power of influence going both ways was being exploited. While this positional leader exhibited assigned leadership, I started to realize the power of my own emergent leadership. In the end, this relationship taught me a great deal about other types of leaders and my own leadership capabilities, particularly when it came to influence which can obviously go both ways.
References
Leadership and followership go hand-in-hand as most of us in the MSLD program already know. This wasn't just a known fact since the beginning of our careers. It took time for us to realize the link between leaders and followers and to understand that they can affect each other in more ways than one. As we have come to know, leaders don't solely affect followers. Followers can affect leaders by contributing new ideas, communicating morale, and making sure their leaders remain abreast of what is going on within the organization in a helpful manner.
I had a leader that I worked for a few years back that I heavily influenced in quite a few different ways. Although this leader didn't seek out my help, when I did approach him about issues, he listened and took heed to my suggestions. The ideas that I came up with and the way that I conducted myself seemed to rub off on him. I would notice that his e-mails would sound similar to the ones that I would send him. When he would send out e-mail correspondence to the entire work center, the e-mails sounded similar to my own. I also noticed that he would pass ideas on that I would come up with as his own when distributing them to the work center.
These actions taught me the power of a follower. It was the first time that I had taken notice of a leader (positional sense). I had come to realize what positional power was as it pertained to leadership. Before I had taken any leadership courses, this was "Leadership 101" without the the academic portion. It was the natural and most memorable way of learning leadership. This leader and myself didn't form much more of a relationship past what I have already described and that was unfortunate. What was positive and important in this situation though? It was the paradigm shift in my perception of leadership and followership.
I was able to see now how much followers could be an influence. How a follower who had leadership tendencies could influence a positional leader. As a military member, you are often blinded by positional leadership due to the discipline and respect that is supposed to be given to those who outrank you. At this particular point in my career, I was able to see how my own leadership impacted another whose positional power was superior. The classic example of Northouse's (2016) explanation of assigned vs. emergent leadership and the power of influence going both ways was being exploited. While this positional leader exhibited assigned leadership, I started to realize the power of my own emergent leadership. In the end, this relationship taught me a great deal about other types of leaders and my own leadership capabilities, particularly when it came to influence which can obviously go both ways.
References
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
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