AIR COMMAND AND STAFF COLLEGE
AU/ACSC/CORROTHERS/AY09
AIR COMMAND AND STAFF COLLEGE
AIR UNIVERSITY
SAY NO TO “YES MEN”:
FOLLOWERSHIP IN THE MODERN MILITARY
by
Eve M. Corrothers, Major, USAF
A Research Report Submitted to the Faculty
In Partial Fulfillment of the Graduation Requirements
Advisor: LtCol Brian W. Landry
Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama
April 2009
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4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Say No To Yes Men: Followership In The Modern Military
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14. ABSTRACT he Air Force can greatly benefit by increasing the role of followership in professional military education at all ranks, officer and enlisted, to help create more effective leaders. It is important to understand that leadership and followership are complementary competencies and military leaders must work to master both of them. Regardless of rank, every member of the United States Military is a subordinate to someone, whether it is to the Secretary of Defense or a newly commissioned Lieutenant. In the military community, every officer is both a leader and follower simultaneously in every position they hold. Therefore, it is vital for officers to hone their followership skills in addition to leadership skills to improve their overall effectiveness. Just as followers are expected to learn from leaders, the converse should also hold true. Leaders that learn from followers become more effective leaders. Understanding this, effective followership requires both dissent and flexibility these essential elements must be part of the development of 21st century Air Force senior leaders. This paper draws from the current body of knowledge on followership focusing on the foundational works and the followership styles they identify. It includes in-depth analysis of two traits recommended for effective leaders. This paper uses the problem/solution research methodology. The idea is not to provide a cookie-cutter follower checklist. Rather, the goal of this work is to initiate discussion of both the importance of followership and how the development and improvement of followership skills can improve the effectiveness of Air Force leaders.
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AU/ACSC/CORROTHERS/AY09
Disclaimer
The views expressed in this academic research paper are those of the author(s) and do not
reflect the official policy or position of the US government or the Department of Defense. In
accordance with Air Force Instruction 51-303, it is not copyrighted, but is the property of the
United States government.
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Contents
Disclaimer ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ii
Figures………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. iv
Preface…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… v
Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… vi
Why Followership?…………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 1
Foundations of Followership ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 5
Followership Styles……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 6
The Five Dimensions of a Courageous Follower …………………………………………………………… 10
Followers are to Leaders as Water is to Fish …………………………………………………………………. 14
Dissent: “Yes Men” Need Not Apply………………………………………………………………………………. 16
Flexibility is Not Just for Airpower …………………………………………………………………………………. 21
Leadership Requires Followership ………………………………………………………………………………….. 25
Appendix A – Followership “Top Ten Lists”……………………………………………………………………. 27
Endnotes………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 30
Bibliography ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 34
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Figures
Figure 1: Kelley’s Followership Styles. …………………………………………………………………………….. 7
Figure 2: Chaleff’s Followership Styles …………………………………………………………………………….. 9
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Preface
This paper is an attempt to raise awareness of how truly essential effective followership
skills are, on their own and more importantly, as a complement to leadership skills. It may strike
some as perverse to take a leadership course and choose to focus primarily on followership.
However, during the course of my leadership studies, I couldn’t help but notice a gap in this
particular field of research. It is necessary to understand that in the military, even when in
leadership positions, we are all followers. As such, leaders must not forget about using the
characteristics and skills they learned as good followers. Followership may not be seen as
glamorous – kids want to grow up to be the president, not a member of the presidential staff.
This work hopes to convey how much Air Force officers can benefit as leaders from developing
and improving followership skills throughout the span of their military careers.
First and foremost, huge thanks go to my advisor LtCol “Coach” Landry for introducing
the leadership theories and ideas that really helped me make connections and take directions in
my research I never would have come up with on my own. I would also like to thank LtCol
Dowty for helping me formulate my topic and focus my ideas. Most importantly, I could not
have survived any of this without the encouragement and support of my husband and fellow
student Jason, the time we spent discussing ideas while driving to and from school made all the
difference.
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Abstract
The Air Force can greatly benefit by increasing the role of followership in professional
military education at all ranks, officer and enlisted, to help create more effective leaders. It is
important to understand that leadership and followership are complementary competencies and
military leaders must work to master both of them. Regardless of rank, every member of the
United States Military is a subordinate to someone, whether it is to the Secretary of Defense or a
newly commissioned Lieutenant. In the military community, every officer is both a leader and
follower simultaneously in every position they hold. Therefore, it is vital for officers to hone
their followership skills in addition to leadership skills to improve their overall effectiveness.
Just as followers are expected to learn from leaders, the converse should also hold true. Leaders
that learn from followers become more effective leaders. Understanding this, effective
followership requires both dissent and flexibility – these essential elements must be part of the
development of 21st century Air Force senior leaders. This paper draws from the current body of
knowledge on followership focusing on the foundational works and the followership styles they
identify. It includes in-depth analysis of two traits recommended for effective leaders. This paper
uses the problem/solution research methodology. The idea is not to provide a cookie-cutter
follower checklist. Rather, the goal of this work is to initiate discussion of both the importance of
followership and how the development and improvement of followership skills can improve the
effectiveness of Air Force leaders.
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Why Followership?
The first page of Air Force Doctrine Document (AFDD) 1-1, Leadership and Force
Development, defines leadership; the following quote is an excerpt of that definition:
Leadership does not equal command, but all commanders should be leaders. Any Air Force member can be a leader and can positively influence those around him or her to accomplish the mission.
The vast majority of Air Force leaders are not commanders. These individuals, who have stepped forward to lead others in accomplishing the mission, simultaneously serve as both leaders and followers at every level of the Air Force.1
Regardless of rank, every member of the United States Military is a subordinate to
someone whether it is to the Secretary of Defense or a newly commissioned Lieutenant. In the
military community, every officer should be considered a leader and follower simultaneously in
every position they hold but as is evident in the Air Force’s definition, the focus is on leadership.
The Air Force professional military education concentrates on developing every officer as if he
or she will one day become the Chief of Staff. However, a leader cannot lead without followers.
The Air Force and the officer corps could greatly benefit by increasing the role of followership in
professional military education for officers to help them as they work toward becoming effective
leaders. The question is, how can officers best serve, using followership to make them better
leaders?
The quote above from AFDD 1-1 about leadership mentions that Airmen are leaders and
followers at the same time. The document goes on to claim, “Desirable behavioral patterns of
these leaders and followers are identified in this doctrine and should be emulated in ways that
improve the performance of individuals and units.”2 However, as you read further you never
quite find useful guidance or even a definition of followership. When discussing personal
leadership Air Force doctrine states that followership is an important skill to have and the tactical
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level of force development is where one should focus on developing it. At the operational and
strategic level, the topic of Airmen as followers is briefly mentioned. The operational level
states, “based on a thorough understanding of themselves as leaders and followers and how they
influence others, they apply an understanding of organizational and team dynamics.”3 At the
strategic level it is not much different, “based on a thorough understanding of themselves as
leaders and followers, and how to use organizational and team dynamics, they apply an in-depth
understanding of leadership at the institutional and interagency levels.”4 Airmen are left to their
own devices to find out more information on followership.
When one delves further into Air Force publications, the term followership shows up in
only 14 documents out of over 2,500 documents posted on the official source site for Air Force
administrative publications.5 Of those 14, only two offer anything beyond a brief mention of the
word followership. Air Force Pamphlet (AFPAM) 36-2241, Professional Development Guide, is
the source for promotion exams for the enlisted force; officers do not take comparable tests for
promotion. Whereas leadership rates a whole chapter and extensive discussion, followership is
included as a subset of leadership and is boiled down to 10 qualities. The guide explains, “There
are 10 points essential to good followership; however, the list is neither inflexible nor
exhaustive:”6
