Armstrong Essay(corrections wanted)

[DJG CAPaholic]

Hi this is my Chief Sustained Essay. Please read through and give me your suggestions.


                             The Differences Between Leadership and Followership

  In this essay I am going to talk about the differences between Leadership and Followership. These skills are like the two sides of a coin, for they may often be used together; but many differences exist between the two. I will be talking about exactly what these differences are.

  Leadership and Followership are complete opposites. Leadership is defined as "The art and science of influencing and directing people to accomplish the assigned mission", and the definition of Followership is "The ability to willingly and obediently follow". As you can see, these terms are very different. If you are leading, you are in charge of a person or group and they answer to u. If you are following, you are under the charge of a person or a group of people, and you will listen to and obey them.

  Followership is mainly used before you become a leader. For example, if you are a Cadet Airman, you will be part of a flight, so you will be following your flight commander and flight sergeant. You will accept their teaching and directions. On the other hand, if you are the cadet commander of your squadron, you will be leading the whole squadron of cadets. You will not be following a flight commander, a flight sergeant, or 1st sergeant. When you are a follower, you take orders and execute them; but if you are a leader, you give orders to your followers.

  You also have many more responsibilities as a leader than you do as a follower. This is because if you are following someone, that person is responsible for his team. If you are leading, then you are the one with the responsibility of taking care of your subordinates.

  As I said before, Leadership and Followership are like the two sides of a coin, for they may often be used together; but many differences exist between the two. You will use them together, but do not confuse them as being the same. Use Leadership for its purpose, and use Followership for its purpose; because if they are used properly, you will succeed in being a leader when necessary and a follower when necessary.



One more thing, at the beginning of the intro, should I say something like "Hello, I am (grade and name) of (squadron name)"?

[coudano]

and they answer to u

srsly???

[Eclipse]

What's with the weird indents?

[Critical AOA]

I'm not real big on the term "follower".

[lordmonar]

I'm not real big on the term "follower".

Just for kicks........why not?

[Critical AOA]

Here are various definitions of follower:

1. One who subscribes to the teachings or methods of another; an adherent.
2. A servant; a subordinate.
3. A fan; an enthusiast.
4. One that imitates or copies another.
5. A machine element moved by another machine element.

While subordinate is listed, it is not what most people typically think of when they hear the word.  Well, at least I don't.  I usually think of either #1 or #3 and possibly #4.

In a team environment, you might have a team leader and team members but followers?  I think not.

[Eclipse]

Leaders require followers, even in a "team environment". 

Very little is accomplished when a team has no leader, or conversely, no followers. Even in very collaborative situations there is always
someone responsible and someone setting the course (though they aren't always the same person).

[lordmonar]

In a team environment, you might have a team leader and team members but followers?  I think not.

So......how do you describe the attributes and techniques that makes a cadet a good MEMBER then?

What you are really saying is that you only understand the negative connotations of the word "follower' as opposed to the definition that our cadet program uses the word.

If you got a better term....I'm all ears.

[hnrykm]

First, grammatically, the terms "leadership" and "followership" should not be capitalized.

Your essay is very difficult to follow. As an essay, your approach is more informal - almost conversational. Read it out to yourself and to someone else and you'll see what I mean.

Vary your vocabulary instead of repeatedly using forms of "leadership" and "follower."

[Archer]

and they answer to u

srsly???

El oh el.

[HGjunkie]

Vary your vocab a bit.

Take the time to consider the bigger picture of your essay: How does leadership and followership impact the mission of CAP? Of your unit? Can a leader be exempt from being a follower, or are they intertwined?

Which came first- The leader or the follower?
(You don't have to answer it in your essay, just consider it.)

The essay is a good start, keep working on it.

[jstobbsvergara13]

you have a lot of un-needed word and sentences that say the exact same thing that you just said... it's like a memo from the department of redundancy department.  Also i think your essay would work better structured in a way in which you first describe one thing (leadership) and have a separate section of the description, uses, and definition of it.  then a paragraph with the same about followship. and then a section at the end that compare/contrasts them. Your current structure leads to a lot of sentences following each other that sound obvious and awkward.  Like if you were writing about hot chocolate and vanilla ice-cream your structure sounds like
"hot chocolate is hot. vanilla ice-cream is cold.  Hot chocolate is chocolate flavored, ice-cream is vanilla flavored.  You drink hot chocolate. You eat ice-cream on a spoon or cone.  Hot chocolate is good in the winter.  ice-cream is good in the summer." See how the just sounds weird as opposed to
"Hot chocolate is a warm beverage with a satisfying chocolate flavor.  Vanilla ice-cream is a chilled desert normally enjoyed on a cone or in a bowl and is popular in the summer due to it's refreshing qualities."

[SarDragon]

General Grammar Cop comment:

its - the possessive of it; Vanilla ice-cream is in the summer due to its refreshing qualities.

it's - the contraction of it is;  it's [it is] like a memo from the department of redundancy department

Anywhere you are thinking about using it's, read it out loud as it is, and see if it makes sense {it is like a memo}, or not {due to it is refreshing qualities}. It also works the other way.

[a2capt]

http://thefump.com/fump.php?id=1205

Power Salad returns to The FuMP with a look at the decline of grammer - er, grammar on teh interwebs adn beyond. Craig imagines there is one last person who knows the correct times to use "it's" or "its", something far too many supposedly edumacated people seem to not know.

[DJG CAPaholic]

The Differences Between Leadership and Followership

Leadership and followership are like the two sides of a coin, for they may often be used together; but many differences exist between the two. These differences will be the topic of this essay.

Essentially, leadership and followership are complete opposites. Leadership is defined as "The art and science of influencing and directing people to accomplish the assigned mission", and the definition of followership is "The ability to willingly and obediently follow". As the definitions show, they are indeed very different.

A cadet will mainly be a follower for the first phase of the Cadet Program, but after that phase, he will find leadership opportunities and become more of a leader than he was before. For example, if this cadet is a Cadet Airman, then he will be part of a flight, so he will be a subordinate to his flight commander and flight sergeant. This Cadet Airman will gain knowledge given by them, and he will try to imitate them as leaders. On the other hand, if there is a Cadet 2nd Lt as the cadet commander of his squadron, he will be leading the whole squadron of cadets. He will not be following a flight commander, a flight sergeant, or 1st sergeant.

A cadet will also have many more responsibilities as a leader than he does as a follower. This is because if he is following someone, that someone is responsible for this cadet and the team that he is in. If the cadet are leading, then he is the one with the responsibility of taking care of his subordinates.

As stated before, leadership and followership are like the two sides of a coin, for they may often be used together; but many differences exist between the two. Use leadership for its purpose, and use followership for its purpose; because if they are used properly, you will succeed in being a leader when necessary and a follower when necessary.