Leader Follower Relationship


Complete the exercise at the beginning of Chapter 10 and use the scoring table at the end to assess your responses.

Reflect on what this assessment means in terms of you as a leader and your relationship to your followers.

  • Has your thinking changed over the course of the past six weeks, if so; why, and, if not; why?
  • What is the significance of this assessment in the context of your future leadership goals and objectives?
  • How can you apply what you learned in your assessment to strategy?

This was actually a sort of fun exercise.  I scored eight times in Strategy 3, seven times in Strategy 4, and one time in strategy 2. 

Based upon the foursquare model as shown by Obolensky (2014), I seem to be more a practitioner of S3 and S4 strategies.  S3 strategy is described as Involved, meaning that the leader does not know or chooses to hold back to allow the others to discover a solution (Obolensky, 2014).  S4 strategy is that of Devolve, meaning that the leader allows for action on the part of the subordinates and will sell or involve when the need arises (Obolensky, 2014).

These descriptions are an accurate representation of how I try to manage projects, that is to allow the members or team to find their own way and let them learn on their own.  Experience as a swim coach, flight instructor, and manager has shown me that people are likely to learn best when they are able to arrive at their own conclusion, instead of me just telling them the answer.  If advice is sought or if performance goes completely sideways, then action and active guidance is needed. 

This assessment and the concepts that have emerged from this class has given me confidence and validation that the leadership style I instinctively prefer to employ, being the S3 and S4 strategies, tend to yield the best results, as described by Obolensky (2014). 

Much like when I was young and given opportunities, a learning curve and allowance for employees or followers to gain experience should be inherently understood by leaders.  In my opinion, there is no better way to learn than to learn from one’s mistakes.  When properly facilitated, failure/underperformance leaves the most residue of learning how to perform correctly.  Leaders, therefore, must have the courage and patience to allow learning, not training, to improve performance.

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