Leadership – whether as theory or practice – is plagued by problems of semantics. I have written about this before, for example, in an earlier post in which I lamented that in the academy, though nowhere else, the words “leader” and “leadership” are presumed preceded by the word “good.” We assume without question that leadership classes and programs … are dedicated to promoting leadership that is good. I went on to add that this would be fine IF the leadership industry did not thoroughly ignore leadership that was bad.*
Even definitions are problematic. The words “leader” and “leadership” have not tens of different definitions but hundreds. The words “follower” and “followership” are even more confusing. For example, in my lexicon followers are defined not by their behavior but by their rank – which is to say that in my lexicon followers do not always follow.**
I raise the issue today because of my most recent post in which I wrote about the newly resigned University of Virginia President James Ryan, and the soon to be retired Republican Senator Thom Tillis. I observed that both were “leaders forced out by a leader [President Trump] more muscular than they.” Then I added that both were followers “who reluctantly followed where Trump led.”
All true – but it does present a problem of semantics, or maybe logic. How can a person be, simultaneously, a leader and a follower? Part of the answer is context. A person can be a leader in one situation but a follower in another. The longtime CEO of JPMorgan, Jamie Dimon, is one of the most admired leaders in corporate America. But would I want him to lead me down a treacherous mountain path? Unlikely.
Another part of the answer is rank. Like all great apes, humans live in groups, groups that are organized hierarchically. So, say you are somewhere in the middle of the group, and say this group is an organization. Chances then are good that you will have some subordinates, some people to lead and manage. Chances are equally good that you will have some superiors, some people who lead and manage you. Which is why it would be correct to say that within the organization you are, simultaneously, a leader and a follower.
It’s complicated. When it comes to leadership and followership it’s more than occasionally necessary to hold two apparently contradictory ideas at the same time.
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*https://barbarakellerman.com/language-of-leadership/
** See, for example, Barbara Kellerman, Followership (Harvard Business School Press, 2008).