All too often, we experience a phenomenon I can only describe as “too many hands in the cookie jar at once.” People are creatures driven by needs. The need to be recognized sits hidden behind an “I don’t care” attitude for many. Lurking…this need wells up waiting for an opportunity to finally prove one’s worth. However,with so many hidden agendas and pride driven individuals, what happens when there are too many workers trying to be leaders and not enough followers?
I joined the Army National Guard in May 2011. I was trained and conditioned to become a strong soldier and eventually a strong leader. Leadership and discipline were at the forefront of our training. Constantly being drilled into our brains were the seven Army values: “loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage” (“The Army values”). Some of these values are used by Northouse (2013) as traits we identify with leaders. We were being taught how to be strong leaders, but more importantly, we were being taught to be loyal followers.
Somewhere in the mix of things following Basic Training, soldiers lose the follower mentality. Rather than following the orders they have been given, soldiers begin to wonder if their leader’s directions are really the best way to go about getting things accomplished. Instead, soldiers begin to openly speak out how their ideas are better, and once one person has voiced their opinion, several more voice their opinions as well. All the while, no work is being done as group conflict emerges trying to figure out which person has the best idea. If this conflict goes unnoticed by leaders, progress becomes delayed.
In the Army, there is no time to waste when serving in a dangerous combat zone. Group conflict creates even more trouble for these soldiers. Group cohesion is threatened. Tasks that are ordered to be done have time limitations in which they need to be completed. Not meeting a task deadline can put lives at risk. Thus, having too many leaders creates a problematic situation.
This excess of leaders and not enough workers is not confined to just the military ranks. It is a problem most organizations and businesses will face. I believe that just as leadership is emphasized in growing up,emphasis should be put into the importance of followers as well. Sometimes, a good leader is one that knows when someone else’s ideas are better than their own and can step aside for the best interest of the group.
Works Cited
The army values. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.army.mil/values/
Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership: theory and practice. (6th ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Namisato, D. (n.d.). The illustrations of david namisato. Retrieved from http://www.namisato.org/illustration-series/at-the-office/
Hierarchy in the military service is of extreme importance, I guess. After all, in the middle of a crisis, it is going to be counterproductive if you have your team calling an urgent meeting to debate whether or not to strike back, for instance.
I also understand that sometimes we have “too many chiefs to too few indians” as the adage goes in Brazil. Co-head, co-leader, co-you-name-it usually just divides the attention and the team and makes things harder to control.
I personally had this experience in my professional life – reporting to different bosses of two different areas with opposing agendas. I eventually became a pawn and a message boy of one area to the other about the things were bothering each other. Productivity and effectiveness were close to zero.
What you propose is interesting to the extent it offers to better understand followers. In the middle of the industrialization process we grew so apart from processes and outcomes that we only think of the end product. In the leadership case, our worries lie with our egos – we all want to be the leader and nobody wants to be the follower.
As you mention, sometimes the best alternative is letting go of our egos and take a follower route – there is no shame in that. After all leadership demands leaders and followers.