John W. Gardner in his article Leaders and Followers starts off with a very strong quote that states “Leaders are almost never as much in charge as they are pictured to be, and followers almost never are as submissive as one might imagine (Gardner).” setting the tone for the article and describing one viewpoint for the relationship between leaders and followers. Followers play a crucial role in the leader follower relationship because if there is no one to lead the leader does not exist. Leaders cannot be in positions of power unless followers are willing to be led or believe in the leaders authority. There is a debate as to which type of leadership style is better one of which being the “tight ship” style in which there are a lot of constraints and controls or would a more laissez faire leadership style work better and decades of research have not given a clear answer. However, there has been support for the idea where the leader helps the follower(s) develop their own thoughts allowing for them to contribute more to society. Instead of being robots and responding directly to the leaders command they have the ability to make their own decisions. A good leader is both consciously as well as unconsciously followed because the people understand and recognize that he has the ability to help them and resolve their adversity as well as problems.
In American society today “Cynical spectator-citizens wait for the right type of leader(s) to resolve for them the critical problems in their neighborhoods, communities, states, and country…Leaders appear detached or stripped of communal identity…citizens…choosing instead to pass on unrealistic expectations to public leaders. A way in which this can be combated is with the development of citizen leaders. In addition, there is a divide both physically as well as mentally seen between leaders and their followers. For example students in California were asked to draw what leadership meant to them. What they got was the leader being depicted much more prominently than the audience, they were divided from the audience by a physical barrier, and were always placed above the audience. Showing the idea how these leaders are not the same as us but rather different and superior/cannot accurately reflect the crowds viewpoints. Describing how the development of citizen leaders would help combat this and allow leaders and followers to feel as though they are connecting with one another.
Between the two types of leadership styles, I often think of some middle ground as the best solution. A task oriented leader is like a gas pedal on a car, in order to actually get places and do things, you need to put your foot on the pedal so the car will move. A relationship oriented leader is like the steering wheel- life never turns out to be the straight line that we want it to be, so in order to avoid disaster, you need to change directions, understand other people’s perspectives and take the long way. I think these characteristics are essential in cultivating the citizen leaders, and are also pretty useful to have when driving a car.
I think you explained the two ways of leadership well. I like how you put the first quote in the article into your post because it really sums up the main point of the blog post. I also liked how you used an example about the students in California that were asked to draw a picture of leadership because it shows a representation of what a lot of people think of leadership.
Your distinction between these two leadership styles is right on. The idea that a leader should have absolute authority over his subordinates – who are expected to act like robots and follow his word – is completely unrealistic. The best leaders are guides who help their followers rather than instruct them. I also thought the students depiction of a leader was interesting because I see why that isn’t the best thing in the world, but I also think I would’ve drawn something similar.
I liked how you pointed out the obvious but often forgotten fact that “followers play a crucial role in the leader follower relationship because if there is no one to lead the leader does not exist.” In our society, we tend to put way more emphasis on the power of a leader rather than on the people who are being led. The people are actually the ones with more power because they choose to follow a leader.
I thought it was very interesting how you used the example of the students in California who were asked to draw what leadership meant to them. I think in our society there is a mental barrier between the citizens and the leaders as we tend to idolize them and symbolically place them above us. Even children have started to catch on to this because they see it in the media, leaders being physically separated by barriers and being higher than the public which is what influences their drawings.