Introduction
Leadership includes many factors and strategies that lead to the success of the team and organization. However, at the same time, the institution of leadership has several types, one of which is followership and servant leadership. Despite the fact that these concepts have much in common, there are fundamental differences that essentially change the approach to these methods. Servant leadership and followership are radically different strategies for implementing leadership in a team and interpreting the role of management.
Followership
First of all, it should be noted that the followership strategy is the most common in swarm businesses and organizations. Its essence lies in the fact that subordinate specialists follow the leader, which is caused by the ability to lead and inspire. This method is extremely effective for the organization since it ensures permanent development and rapid achievement of business goals (Khan, 2021). This can be explained by the fact that a competent and well-known leader sets certain tasks for the team and is the first to begin to fulfill them. The rest of the specialists who are subordinate to such a leader begin to follow him. Thus, the leader acts as an example to follow and enjoys high authority (Khan, 2021). Employees do not doubt the correctness of his actions or the tasks that need to be performed.
Servant Leadership
In contrast to the previous one, the servant leadership method differs from the traditional understanding of management. The essence of the strategy is that the leader directly interacts with all subordinates and pays special attention to them (Tran et al., 2020). The key feature of the method is that almost all the actions of such a leader are aimed solely at meeting the needs of employees. It is important to note that the needs are part of the interests of the company; that is, they include professional and competence development and an effective working atmosphere (Tran et al., 2020). Thus, the figure of the leader does not carry out managerial functions and does not set the pace and vector of tasks (Tran et al., 2020). This person is aimed at supporting activities where employees independently increase the efficiency of the organization and achieve their goals.
Comparison and Contrasting
The first and most significant difference between the two strategies described above is the share of responsibility and exactingness. In sequence, the leader is obliged to foresee and analyze in detail each of his actions because the success of the entire corporation depends on this. In servant leadership, on the contrary, the employees determine the company’s final efficiency, and the leader plays a supporting role (Tran et al., 2020). Another difference lies in the nature of the actions carried out. The servant leader performs official duties, namely, providing opportunities and necessary conditions for professionals. Followership includes primarily organizational activities, that is, management and control (Khan, 2021). Finally, the ultimate goals of these two strategies differ. Servant leadership reaches the maximum level of providing for all the needs of workers, while the followership strives to achieve the achievement of the global goals of the corporation.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it should be noted that the strategies of servant leadership and followership differ significantly from each other. Despite the fact that in both systems, there is an individual that influences the performance of tasks, the functions of such leaders are different. The servant leader aims to realize the rights and needs of employees, thereby creating the necessary conditions for increasing the corporation’s efficiency. The followership independently sets goals and development vectors for the team and becomes an example to follow. In other words, the systems are aimed at the implementation of auxiliary activities by the leader on the one hand and organizational and managerial on the other.
References
Khan, S. N. (2021). Leadership and followership in an organizational change context. IGI Global.
Tran, D. Q., Song, J., Spears, L. C., & Ferch, S. R. (Eds.). (2020). Servant-leadership and forgiveness. How leaders help heal the heart of the world. State University of New York Press.