Followship

Guided Discovery.

Photo by Kristaps Grundsteins on Unsplash

Suggested Reading

• ADP 6-22, Army Leadership and the Profession

  • Pages 5-1 through 5-16 based on printed document (PDF pages 63-78)

  • Reviewing the US Army’s five competencies for leading: leading others, extending influence beyond the chain of command, building trust, leading by example, and communicating.

• Link to ADP 6-22 on the US Army Publishing Directorate

• This week’s Study: NASCAR

• All excerpts below are from ADP 6-22 unless otherwise noted

Introduction

5-1. Leads consists of five competencies. Leads others includes influencing members in the leader's organization. Influence is central to leadership. Extends influence beyond the chain of command involves influencing others when the leader does not have designated authority or when others may not recognize the leader's authority. Builds trust establishes conditions that lead to mutual confidence among leaders and subordinates. Leader actions and words comprise the competencies of leads by example and communicates. Actions can speak louder than words and leaders who embody standards as role models are generally more effective than those who simply talk about standards. Effective leaders clearly communicate what needs to be done and why.

Why should people follow you?
What is the difference between a strategic follower and being a passive subordinate?
Is it possible to be an effective leader if you have not learned to be a good follower?

This Week’s Reading, Abridged

5-3. All Army leaders are followers; each reports to someone higher in the chain of command, ultimately up to the Secretary of the Army who answers to the President. Leaders inspire and guide subordinates to follow; subordinates react to inspiration and follow guidance while performing their duties. Leaders assess and establish rapport with followers, and followers act in good conscience to follow guidance.

5-7. Successful leadership depends upon both the compliance and commitment of those being led. Neither succeeds on its own in most situations; rather, there is a blend of compliance and commitment amongst subordinates in each situation. The best leaders generate a sense of commitment that causes subordinates to go beyond achieving the bare minimum. Compliance to legal and ethical orders, directives, and instructions is always required. Willing and eager agreement is commitment.

5-9. Influence is the essential activity of leadership and refers to how people affect the intentions, attitudes, and actions of another person or group of people. Influence depends upon the relationship that develops between leaders and others. Positive rapport and a sense of mutual trust make subordinates more likely to respond positively to a leader’s influence. Examples of rapport building include having genuine interest in a subordinate’s well-being, offering praise for a job well done, and taking time to understand a subordinate’s position on an issue. Leaders indirectly influence others by demonstrating integrity, empathy, judgment, expertise, and commitment. Army leaders employ various methods of direct influence based on audience, intent, and context of the situation. The nine methods listed below represent different ways to influence:

• Pressure.

• Legitimating.

• Exchange.

• Personal appeals.

• Collaboration.

• Rational persuasion.

• Apprising.

• Inspirational appeals.

• Participation.

Which of the nine influence methods do you use? What do you find most and least effective?
When does a reputation for using certain influence methods become a leadership limitation?
When does influencing become manipulation?

5-10. When subordinates perceive that pressures originate from their leader’s attempt to please superiors for personal recognition, resentment can quickly undermine an organization’s morale, cohesion, and quality of performance. Pressure is a suitable choice when the stakes are high, time is short, or previous attempts to direct action have not been successful.

5-14. Collaboration occurs when the leader engages with subordinates or peers to apply influence by contributing to the outcome. The leader is making commitment more attractive to followers by stepping in and resolving problems, offering additional resources, or sharing in the work. A collaborative approach works well in many environments. It can increase mutual understanding and clarify commander’s intent while giving subordinates the opportunity to share their ideas and perspective.

5-15. Rational persuasion requires providing a broader context, logical argument, or explanations showing how a request is relevant to the goal and why something should or must be done. This is often the first approach a leader takes to gain compliance or commitment from subordinates and is more effective when others recognize the leader as an expert. Leaders draw from their own experience to give reasons why a task should be accomplished in a particular manner. Rational persuasion is often used in combination with other approaches, particularly collaboration.

5-18. Participation occurs when leaders ask others to join them in determining how best to address a problem or meet an objective. Active participation leads to an increased sense of worth and recognition among subordinates that contributes to unit cohesion. Participation increases the commitment of subordinates to execute whatever is decided and contributes to shared understanding of the commander’s intent. By involving subordinate leaders during planning, the senior leader is helping to ensure subordinates will later be able to pursue critical intermediate and long-term objectives on their own initiative.

Should influence methods be matched to generational preferences?
If pressure and legitimating risk damage to relationships, why are they a default under stress?

5-19. Creating commitment among subordinates requires that they know their leaders are sincere. … Leaders who primarily focus on personal gain or recognition are seen by subordinates as self-serving, which undermines trust and erodes motivation. Honorable intentions wrongly perceived by followers as self-serving will yield mere compliance.

5-22. When leaders experience resistance, the first response is to understand the nature of the relationship and reasons for opposition or non-compliance. Resistance may stem from a lack of trust, lack of understanding, or concerns about well-being.

5-23. Overt acknowledgement of resistance can be the first step in reducing it. Leaders should confront resistance quickly to determine the reasons why it exists and how to address the causes constructively. This may be enough to change negative mindsets and build or restore mutual trust within the organization. Leaders can lessen resistance by acknowledging concerns with their own position or requests. This demonstrates that the leaders recognizeboth the positives and negatives of a given request and that they are approaching the issue even-handedly and fairly.

5-40. Many leaders connect at a personal level with their subordinates, which helps leaders to anticipate and understand individual circumstances and needs. Leaders who take an interest in Soldier and DA Civilian development show they care about their subordinates. It ranges from ensuring a subordinate is given time away from the unit to attend Army schools to finding out about a person’s personal interests. Leaders should provide an adequate family support and readiness network to help families, while at home station or deployed, whether military or civilian.

Is your team or organization committed or merely compliant? Do leaders care?
When is resistance to leadership actually superior followship?
How do you handle being wrong in front of people who depend on your judgment?

5-44. People naturally accept the influence of people they trust. When high levels of trust exist among members of an organization, its members are more likely to influence each other up and down the chain of command and laterally with other organizations. Trust increases readiness and is essential for developing the shared understanding of intent that facilitates initiative by everyone within the organization. Trust builds over time through mutual respect, shared understanding, and common experiences. Communication contributes to trust by keeping others informed, establishing expectations, providing feedback, and developing commitment. Sustaining trust depends on meeting expectations and commitments. Leaders and subordinates all contribute to the level of trust that occurs in a unit. Leaders and subordinates earn or lose trust through everyday actions and attitudes.

5-51. Leading without formal authority requires adaptation to the conditions and cultural sensitivities of a given situation. Leaders require cultural knowledge to understand different social customs and belief systems and to address issues in those contexts.

5-53. Building coalitions is similar to building teams, but groups maintain generally greater independence in coalitions. Trust is a common ingredient in effective coalitions. Coalitions evolve by establishing contact with others, building relationships, and identifying common interests. An effective strategy for breaking down the barriers among smaller, subordinate group identities is to build or strengthen a common group identity for all members, such as highlighting the common cause shared by all coalition partners.

5-60. Not all partnerships are enduring. Some are intended only for a limited time. Others are expected to last until a specific end state has been achieved. Leaders look ahead, anticipating future scenarios and the conditions under which a partnership will or should dissolve. They help define roles and responsibilities for elements of a post-alliance state to ensure a smooth transition process and set conditions so the desired end state persists after the partnership has ended.

What would happen if you eliminated all formal authority from your toolkit for 30 days?
How do you maintain competitive advantage while extending influence in industry groups?
How do you invest in building trust when you know a partnership has a term-limit?

5-64. Displaying confidence and composure when situations are not going well can be a challenge for anyone, but is important for the leader trying to lead others through challenging, stressful, and ambiguous situations. Calm determination reflects confidence and is a key component of leader presence. A leader who shows hesitation or panic in the face of setbacks can trigger a chain reaction among others. A leader who is over-confident in difficult situations may lack the proper degree of care or concern, and risks being viewed as not understanding the seriousness of the problems at hand.

5-68. Having the appropriate levels of expertise is vital to competent leaders who display confidence through their attitudes, actions, and words. Subordinates become suspicious of leaders who act confident but do not demonstrate the competence to justify their confidence.

5-72. Leaders should remain aware of barriers to listening that prevent hearing and absorbing what speakers say. Avoid formulating a response before hearing what the person says. Avoid distraction by anger, disagreement with the speaker, or other things that impede focusing on the message itself.

5-74. When leaders keep their organizations informed, they build trust. Shared information contributes to reduced stress and controls rumors. Timely information exchange allows team members to determine requirements and adjust to changing circumstances. Informing subordinates of a decision and the supporting reasons shows respect and conveys the need for their support and input. Good information flow ensures the next leader in the chain is sufficiently prepared to take over, if required.

5-76. Any means other than face-to-face communication present some risk for misunderstanding due to the lack of verbal and non-verbal cues. Building rapport and trust is an ongoing, long-term effort that occurs during unit formation, individual unit reception, day-to-day garrison operations, and training exercises. … Leaders should use face-to-face communications with subordinates as much as possible to ensure understanding and to observe the feedback cues given by listeners.

5-77. Communication also flows from bottom to top. Leaders find out what their people are thinking, saying, and doing by listening. Effective leaders observe their organizations by circulating among their followers to coach, listen, and clarify. They pass relevant observations to enable planning and decision-making.

5-80. Open communication does more than share information. It shows leaders care about those they work with on a daily basis. Competent and confident leaders encourage open dialogue, listen actively to all perspectives, and ensure others can voice honest opinions without fearing negative consequences.

Where does information get ‘stuck’ in your organization or team? What is the solution?
When you do not share information, is it because it is a secret or you lack trust?
What techniques do you use to maintain composure under stress?
Why should people follow you?

Questions for Individual Reflection

1. When does your organization confuse compliance for commitment and what does that confusion cost?

2. How do you distinguish between leading through authority versus through credibility when both produce results?

3. When is resistance to leadership a sign of healthy organizational dynamics?

4. How do you lead people who are more technically competent than you without losing credibility?

5. When was the last time you truly followed someone’s lead and what made that experience transformative (versus transactional)?

Professional Discussion Prompts

1. Is building consensus always worth the time or are there situations where directive leadership is better?

2. How do you lead in a cultural environment that questions traditional authority structures?

3. Is it ethical to use emotional manipulation techniques if they genuinely motivate better performance?

4. How do you teach followship skills to executives who have been rewarded for leading throughout their careers?

5. How do you create an organizational culture where intelligent dissent is valued over blind loyalty?

Personal Discussion Prompts

1. How has your relationship with authority changed since you became an authority figure?

2. Which family member challenges your leadership style most effectively and why?

3. When do you struggle most to follow: when you disagree with the direction or when you do not trust the leader?

4. How do you teach children to question authority while still respecting legitimate leadership?

5. How has your relationship with your parents shaped your ability to follow authority figures?

Exercises

1. Followship Style Assessment

   1. Exercise:

      1. Each participant reflects on a leader they followed exceptionally well and evaluates what made them effective as a follower.

      2. Discuss and identify personal patterns when followship comes naturally versus when it's difficult. Explore how these patterns show up in current relationships with superiors and peers.

   2. Debrief:

      1. What conditions do you need to be your best self as a follower?

      2. How does your followship style affect the leaders you work with?

      3. When does your resistance to following actually serve the organization (versus your ego)?

2. Influence Acceptance Reflection

   1. Exercise:

      1. Participants examine their own responses to situations in which others attempted to influence them using the nine methods.

      2. Discuss which influence methods they respond to well as followers and which create resistance.

   2. Debrief:

      1. What does your resistance to certain influence methods reveal about your followship blind spots?

      2. How do you help leaders influence you more effectively?

      3. When does your reaction to influence sabotage organizational effectiveness?

Feel free to borrow this with pride and use with your teams, professionally or personally. If you do, please let me know how it went and tips for improvement: matt @ borrowingwithpride.com