They Are Making It Up

[Phoney Tony]

I have just seen the latest guidance on leadership for officers completing OJARs. Within this document, sponsored (So not necessarily something he/her wrote themselves) by ACOS manning, it includes the word followship. I checked, as a word it does not exist in the COD that I have on my desk. Interesting that those who have our careers within their grasp seem to be inventing new words as well as changing the meaning of old ones.

[High_Expect]

Busy day then..?

Still... It should make a great talking point at Handbrake House 11'sies tomorrow.
:ok:

[Ray Dahvectac]

Leadership and followship would seem to go together quite naturally. :ok:

And while it may not be in the COD, it seems to exist - albeit on the Internet. Link (http://www.developingpeople.co.uk/news-Leadership_Vs_Followship_%28Part_3%29-255.aspx).

[Pontius Navigator]

There was, IIRC, a big article in a recent Air Power, you know, the volume you read on a black flag day when all the talks are over and you have to stay till 5.:}

[circle kay]

Oh, that's OK then; it's on the Internet it must be true:ugh:

[BEagle]

Followship - is that the new management-speak wanque-word for sycophancy and/or licking the boss's ar$e?

Presumably any whistle-blowers or those prepared to stand up for themselves will be marked down for 'weak followship' - rather than 'of questionable loyalty'?

[Vox Populi]

The RAF lost its way in management nonsense speak a long time ago.

I try not to get infuriated by it anymore, but it still manages to depress me.

It's not as if all these ideas showers have incentivised any one actualy make any good decisions is it?

What a bunch of toss.

[vecvechookattack]

I was reading an thingy in some cheap pussers throwaway this afternoon that talked about a thing called an MPAR. Anyone know of such a thing? what is it and what purpose does it serve?

[Pontius Navigator]

I tried, fairly successfully, to ignore manuspeak. When asked to submit a business case I feigned ignorance (not difficult) and got some jobs worth to write it for me.

When I wanted something I simply ordered it. No one ever came back and argued.

Work is avoided by refusing. Work is avoided by not raising an issue. Everyone was concerned to pass their work on but receive no work in.

I had one meeting following which I stated that I looked forward to receiving the promised advice from one of the people at the meeting. Naturally this advice never arrived to I had no difficulty avoiding work.

C Northcote Parkinson had it right. An organisation above a critical mass needs no external stimulii to become administratively self-sustaining.

You just invent something new then stand back and left the noise die down.

[Spurlash2]

I was reading an thingy in some cheap pussers throwaway this afternoon that talked about a thing called an MPAR. Anyone know of such a thing? what is it and what purpose does it serve?

- Yes
- Mid period appraisal report. 6 months after your annual report, you get an update on how well you are doing/badly you are..../were you listening?
- An opportunity for RO's to refine the interview from 6 months ago.

Knowing you, as I do, Vec, no, I will not set off on a rant.

Although the temptation is immense.

[PPRuNeUser0139]

Whatever happened to being able to take people outside and shoot them for not following order?

If I remember rightly, you need to be an officer of field rank & above in the Turkish military to be able to do that..:}

[sisemen]

"followship" - that's what you get when we give in to those that say that grammar and spelling are not important.

We used to call it teamwork in my day.

Makes loud "hurrumph" noise and sticks pipe in mouth and exits room with what remains of large scotch.

[PTT]

Leadership - the ability to be a leader.
Followship - the ability to be a... follow? :confused:

Followership, surely.

[geezerBJ]

Definitions of followership on the Web:

* Adherence to a leader; A group of followers

followership - Wiktionary (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/followership)

[Mr C Hinecap]

I remember that as one of the first things we learned at Cranwell - you know - the first few leadership tasks where we all fell over each other trying to prove ourselves? The realisation that we had to support the designated leader as a supportive team member and not try to usurp and try to do the best for the team as a supporter.

Or don't you identify with that? :suspect:

[Pontius Navigator]

followership, as in sheep?

Essentially BEage's is right. It is an invention. It is someone's 'successful' attempt to do something new and stand out from the crowd. The SO has just 2 years to make his mark, often only 6-12 months, and then off.

There are many instances where change has been introduced for change sake only to be reversed after a couple or tour cycles. The most notorious has to be the QNH/QFE debacle.

[philrigger]

;)

Another Americanism creeping in. I do believe that it is in Websters dictionary.

Utter bollocks.


Phil

[Pontius Navigator]

Interesting, in today's Torygraph is a quote from Fisher: Never Explain, Never Apologise.

This is the same mentality that caused the catastrophic collision in the 19th Century with the Mediterranean Fleet.

Do you score good Followership points (bit like Fellowship points) from your proximity to your RO saying 'yes sir, yes sir, 3 bags full.'?

[Jumping_Jack]

Followship...used to be 'curiosity' didn't it? As in 'He followed his Officer out of curiosity, if nothing else'? So to develop your 'Followship' you must instill as much 'curiosity' in your subordinates as possible.....random....:ok:

J_J

[Mr C Hinecap]

P_N - how would you describe the active role of 'being part of the team and supporting the leader, but related to leadership'?

I don't particularly like the word but it is a useful adjunct (I know what I mean) to 'leadership' when explaining the differences in roles. The concept isn't flawed but the language might be.

[Pontius Navigator]

The concept isn't flawed but the language might be.

Quite. :)
:)

[Shack37]

Wouldn't a typo for fellowship would it? As in Band of Brothers:confused:

[NutLoose]

Shack37 Wouldn't a typo for fellowship would it? As in Band of Brothershttp://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/smilies/confused.gif


More like Fellowship as in "Fellowship of the Ring" where you get a bunch of Dwarves, Trolls, and Hobbits all running around trying to have a look at Frodo Baggins's Ring.......:p

[Wyler]

How about 'Wallowship' - The ability to float above the ever increasing tsunami of crap pamphlets, petty rules regarding E&D, H&S, initiatives, Human Factors, posters telling you not to get your kn*b out in the crewroom and inclusion policies.

It is all boll*cks. Not to mention the ever changing shift rosters to cope with the latest bout of egg fertilisation leading to paid time off.


Grrrrrr

[taxydual]

Followship

The ability, of the remaining aircraft (of a multiple aircraft formation), to follow the formation leader by also crashing into a mountain.

[noprobs]

An example of followership was in the events leading up to the Nimrod ditching. With a diagnosed fire, the aircraft captain was heading for a runway, using the information directly available to him. However, a junior member of the crew who could see the progress of the fire had the confidence to interject his more urgent knowledge to the captain's already very busy decision-making process, leading to the bold decision to ditch so close to a runway, despite the limited chance of a safe outcome. It was subsequently thought that they probably wouldn't have made it to the runway before the rest of the wing root burned through.

It's all part of CRM in our world, but can be applicable in many situations.

[Phoney Tony]

How about performance as a:

Subordinate.
Team member.

These are words defined in a dictionary and thus are less likely to be incorrectly used.

However,...along with P-N comment - invent something new then stand back and left the noise die down.

Some phrases/terms for this years OJARs:

X successfully repurposed processes and systems that were not working and repurposed them thus achievanating the aim.

Presenteeism - being at work.

Internot - poor use of IT.

Latterati - always found in the coffee bar.

Mouse potato - couch potatoes of the internet generation

Multislacking - to do several different types of very little at once.

Assmosis - brown-nosing abilities rather than your ability to do your job. Also known as suck-cession.

[UpShutter]

I believe it's a nautical term, first coined to describe the actions of sea birds flying behind cross channel ferries. :rolleyes:

[Whenurhappy]

Ignore this post...I can't find to a way to dete this post in toto!

[Rigger1]

Haddon Cave page 481 -

Additionally, the presumptive language of ‘management speak’ and ‘JPA civvie-speak’ is alienating our personnel – at all levels interviewed. ...”

Do we never learn?

[dolphinops]

So when are Handbrake HQ going to commence the first Followership Development Course at RAF Whereversleft? Along with glossy pamphlets etc.

[WeekendFlyer]

I am SO glad I am not part of this nonsense anymore. Talk about fiddling while Rome burns...

"Ooh, we are fighting a major campaign in Afghanistan but the defence budget is about to come under enormous pressure! what shall we do? I know, let's introduce even more complexity into personnel appraisals, that will solve the problem! And lets invent some new management-speak too while we are at it - that'll keep the chaps busy!" :ugh: :confused: :sad: :(

If I was still serving, I would be despairing. To those of you who are still in, thank you for doing such a geat job and making your country proud, while you endure the blizzard of unecessary change and constant top-level interference from those in charge. You have our admiration and gratitude. :D

WF

[Yeller_Gait]

Originally Posted by Mr C Hinecap http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/buttons/viewpost.gif (http://www.pprune.org/military-aircrew/406840-they-making-up.html#post5534916)
how would you describe the active role of 'being part of the team and supporting the leader, but related to leadership'?


I think the answer you are looking for is in your own words, surely supporting your leader is a far better way to go about things than just following?

Y_G

[Whenurhappy]

Quote the Haddon-Cave Review:

Additionally, the presumptive language of ‘management speak’ and ‘JPA civvie-speak’ is alienating our personnel – at all levels interviewed. ...”


Except this wasn't written by Mr Haddon-Cave - this quote was from an internal study ('Capability Health Check') conducted by the Air Staff some 18 months ago...

[ghostnav]

Just saw this in the developingpeopleuk blog:

Followers are not simply “sheep”. “Sheep” are passive and uncritical, lacking in initiative and a sense of responsibility. Effective followers are highly participative, critical and independent thinkers.

Seems to me then if you aren't being critical, you aren't a good "follower". Me thinks I will keep this in my pocket when I get debriefed.

[Yeller_Gait]

Just saw this in the developingpeopleuk blog:

Followers are not simply “sheep”. “Sheep” are passive and uncritical, lacking in initiative and a sense of responsibility. Effective followers are highly participative, critical and independent thinkers.

Seems to me then if you aren't being critical, you aren't a good "follower". Me thinks I will keep this in my pocket when I get debriefed.

If you can get the blog accepted as UK mil policy, then what a great spot, but until then not really worth too much, unfortunately :rolleyes:

[Pontius Navigator]

Effective followers are highly participative, critical and independent thinkers.

Me thinks I will keep this in my pocket when I get debriefed.

Baa,

I see where your coming from; smart move.

[BEagle]

"Morning Boss"

"Morning plebs"

"Hail the Messiah!"

"What did you say?"

"HAIL THE MESSIAH!"

"What do you mean, 'Messiah'? I'm not the Messiah!"

"I say you are, oh Boss...and I should now, I've followed a few!"

"Alright, I AM the Messiah."

"YES - he IS the Messiah!"

"Now....F*CK OFF!"

"Errm............how shall we f*ck off, oh Boss?"

With acknowledgements to 'Life of Brian'. YouTube - Monty Python - Life of Brian - Alright I am the Messiah (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz6Dqi3qJiU)

[kokpit]

Utter bollocks.

Brilliant :D

Clear and concise, a man of my own heart :ok:

[fincastle84]

I spent nearly 30 years on Nimrods doing just that!

Oh, but no longer possible after 31 March 2010. Does anyone know if the Russians are decommissioning their submarine fleet at the same time?:D

[Luciferbifax]

In keeping with his competitively, combative nature, the homily on the plaque at the front of his desk bucked corporate convention and confronted you with a challenge. It bluntly left no doubt as to his expectation of what you were there to do. “Lead, Follow, or get the Hell out the way.”

And no one was left in any doubt as to which of these three actions he was there to fulfill. It can be endlessly debated at water coolers and over dinner (and often is) whether he is, in fact, the leader. But in his mind, there is no doubting or debating the fact. He is the ultimate leader of the New York Yankees baseball team, and his name is George Steinbrenner.

What is interesting in this characteristically sanguine maxim is Steinbrenner’s acknowledgement of followers. It is a given that all leaders have followers. In fact, there cannot be a leader without a follower (for what is a leader without followers if not marooned in a state of solipsistic limbo?).

The importance of followship. It's everywhere, get used to it.

[Mr C Hinecap]

BGG - you can do better than that. Why isn't it?

[Biggus]

Surely the point everyone is hacked off with is that "followship" is just another corporate yuckspeak type word invented to describe qualities that have been in exisitance in both the military and civil worlds since the year dot. Alexander the Great was an effective leader, who no doubt had effective "followers" or wouldn't have achieved all that he did - it is not a new concept.....just a new bo**ocks buzzword!!!

As I have said, it is not new, it largely refers to your ability to be a team player, which is how it used to be described in military reports. Most teams, to be effective, have a leader. One of the aspects of being a good team player is support (but not unqualified support!) for the leader. I haven't attended any "followship" briefings, but it seems to me the term concentrates almost exclusively on the efectiveness of the followers support for the leader. There is actually far more to being a good team player than just your relationship with the leader, such as your interaction with and support of other team members....

Therefore it seems to me that describing someones effectiveness as a team player actually covers more ground than their effectiveness as a "follower". It also strikes me that "followship" is a phrase invented/beloved of leaders who want people to "follow" them more blindly.......

[OCCWMF]

Followship is excellent creative work. I raised the wider issue a while back here:

http://www.pprune.org/military-aircrew/286364-senior-officer-unoriginality.html

but am beginning to wonder about the merits of the argument. The whole management bolleaux 'piece' may have some benefits:

if you put an infinite number of monkeys in a room with an infinite number of typewriters you'll eventually get the complete works of Shakespeare...

I'll caveat that by acknowledging the low number of typewriters at Air Command...:}

my point being that, eventually, they have to come up with something good.

[Pontius Navigator]

Being serious onhere for a change, a good number of us from all Services attended a resettlement seminar, about 40 I guess. I think most ranked in the flt lt - sqn ldr bracket with the odd wg cdr.

We all completed the Myers-Briggs personality profile. About 2 people scored top left, IIRC, these were leaders with little regard for those following. The women tended towards one of the bottom corners and the majority, men, to the other corner. I think the women were in the more creative block.

Now by definition, everyone there was a leader. However we few would actually have been leaders from the front but leaders following the main leader.

Now the crux of the question should concern their airships.

How many of them are true leaders in the Harris, Dowding, Trenchard mold? Many start on the road to the stars but stop off on the landing others like the Seeb Air Cdre jump off.

[Phoney Tony]

My point at the beginning of this thread was that our leadership have invented a word, which does not exist in the dictoinary, without defining what it means, when there are perfectly good words which have sound provanance already in existance.

Everyone in uniform is a subordinate to the monarchy via the in-place government.

The armed forces only work because of the good will (lets be old fashioned and call it a sense of duty) of its people. If each and every one of us did only our primary duty there would be a massive shortfall in output and lifestyle.

[larssnowpharter]

My point at the beginning of this thread was that our leadership have invented a word,

In fact there was a good article in Air Clues many years ago - possibly the 70s - entitled 'The Art of Good Followship'. I would love to find it if anyone knows where I can.

So, possibly not the figment of their Airships yuckspeak imagination!

Cheers

Larss

'Look, Boss. If you wanted a 'yes man' working for you that means one of us is redundant'

[PTT]

have invented a word, which does not exist in the dictoinary,
Great big flashing irony caption :E

[8-15fromOdium]

I seem to remember the topic of followership being discussed on by Sgts course in the mid 90's and on many Human Factors courses since. It would be interesting to see Mannings definition of Followership and how it is to be included in appraisals. Another thing manning should perhaps start examining is Toxic Leadership (http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/milreview/reed.pdf).

[AARON O'DICKYDIDO]

It would be interesting to see Mannings definition of Followership and how it is to be included in appraisals.

We know the definition of Followership - its in the dictionary.

What we need to know is the definition of Followship. I always thought that the OED was the definitive source for service writing.

Aaron.

[Tiger_mate]

Another thing manning should perhaps start examining is Toxic Leadership.

I had never heard this term before, but have experienced it at first hand. Many times I had heard of leaders feathering their own nest but that article is very well written putting much flesh onto the bones previously referred to as a selfish t***. Worthy of note that toxic leadership is not seen by the Command Chain only by subordinates.

Perhaps if the chain of command look for it, then perhaps it would be seen after all. FWIW I think that such a stance is infectious in a similar manner that discontent (low morale) amongst the troops is.

[Pontius Navigator]

Worthy of note that toxic leadership is not seen by the Command Chain only by subordinates.

Sometimes it is. I know a particular gp capt never missed a happy hour on any section. He might have had dirty ears but he certainly knew all about his 'leaders'.

[Mr C Hinecap]

I've just scanned several really sad Intranet websites. :{

"The RAF Leadership Objectives and Attributes" which are published as "Notes for the assistance of Reporting Officers in commenting on Leadership in Appraisal Reports" by the RAF Leadership Centre uses 'Followership'. It does not use 'Followship' or any other variation.

Operation MOLEHILL is now stood down. Those currently drafting letters of outrage to the Daily Mail are to cease. Those on Q are to return to eating and sleeping. Those retired are to reduce consumption of Worthers Originals.

[Pontius Navigator]

the latest guidance on leadership for officers completing OJARs. Within this document, sponsored (So not necessarily something he/her wrote themselves) by ACOS manning, it includes the word followship

The OP seems pretty reliable.

That it is not visible on the intranet is possibly an accurate testimony to the effciency of the MOD Intranet search engine. IME it often fails to find something on the current page!

[sapco2]

Followship may be an invented word but I for one really like it!
Let's face it, the ideal of "leadership and followership" beats the hell out of any old fashioned "control and be controlled" philosophy adopted by some military commanders of the past.

The question of 'blindly following' is discussed in great depth in the book; "On the Psychology of Military Incompetence" by Norman F. Dixon.