Leading and Following
Written by Brian Bartlett
How I learned to be a better leader and follower in the Navy.
Almost everyone in a position of leadership is simultaneously in a position of followership. They are two sides to the same coin; you could argue they’re interchangeable depending on one’s position and timing. And both are among the important traits that make up an effective leader. It is therefore essential to develop followership and leadership skills concurrently to ascend your career pyramid.
Effective leaders develop followership and leadership in their people intentionally and by example. You can tell what’s important to people and organizations by what they spend their time and money on. If they spend time mentoring and developing followers and leaders, you can see that they have a solid followership and leadership culture.
After graduating from flight school, I joined my first squadron in Jacksonville, FL. I was assigned to the Line Division in the Maintenance Department. The Line Division of a squadron is responsible for the daily servicing and cleaning of the aircraft. It’s usually staffed with the youngest sailors just starting their careers and learning the ropes. Needless to say, it can be a leadership challenge—but also very rewarding. Luckily, I had two strong enlisted leaders to work with.
My immediate boss was the Maintenance Officer, a higher-ranked and more experienced individual. The Maintenance Officer had two bosses: the Executive Officer and the Commanding Officer. In the squadron, the Commanding Officer is the boss. In the helicopter I flew in, we always had two pilots: one who is in charge of the aircraft (Aircraft Commander), and one who is the follower (Copilot). So flying as Copilot gave me a clear sense of leader and follower. The Aircraft Commander’s job is to execute the mission in a safe and efficient manner, and also to train the Copilot. Rarely did I fly with the same Aircraft Commander on consecutive flights, which meant adjusting to a new leader on a daily basis. Pilots are like most people: we’re all different. Different personalities and leadership styles lead us to handle stress and pressure in different ways, which can affect how we lead and teach.
I had two very distinct and unique jobs—leading junior sailors and learning to be a pilot. I was constantly switching between leading and following in the same location, and sometimes within minutes. I’d like to say I was receiving great leadership from my bosses, but that wasn’t always the case. My immediate boss tried his best to mentor me and help me develop leadership skills, but he was pulled in a lot of other directions and didn’t have much time to give. Instead, I learned a lot from watching my fellow officers in the squadron and talking with my peers about what I was doing and going through. We leaned on each other to solve problems and develop our own leadership styles.
I’d like to say the Navy spent a lot of time intentionally teaching followership and leadership, but frankly most of my initial growth came through trial and error. In retrospect, I could have sought more leadership, but the environment as it was helped me develop my own unique style and problem solving. As I progressed through my career, I tried to keep in mind what it was like when I was starting out as a follower and leader in that Maintenance Department learning to be a pilot and how unprepared I was for both roles. The experience taught me that as a follower, I needed to be responsible for developing my own followership and leadership. As a senior officer, I used this experience to put myself in a junior person’s shoes and have empathy for what they were going through. I believe this in turn helped me give the guidance I’d give to my younger self and intentionally develop professional officers who were extremely competent in both followership and leadership.
If you are in a position of leadership or followership, don’t be afraid to reach out to get professional development and coaching. It can be essential to your success—you don’t have to learn by trial and error. Others can guide you and help you become the leader you want to be!