What's more important, the leaders or the followers?

Answer 1

Initially, followers are more important. Here is why. Eventually, someone will emerge from the group as a leader. And that leader will most likely be put in that position by the followers. In this way, you may actually have a more cohesive work team. I know... how can you have followers with no leader? But you get what I mean. They follow each other around initially. :)

You can get a leader out of followers, but you can't get followers out of a leader. :)

Answer 2

A good follower is more important. The equation for success for a follower is very similar to that for a leader.

Most of us start in an organization or a community as a follower. It is rare that any of us will step into any type of leadership position, formal or informal without demonstrating that we can be and are good followers.

So, let's start with a simple statement: you nor I cannot be a good leader unless we are or can be a good follower. The characteristics of each position are very similar. There are people who may be good followers who do not make good leaders or even want to be leaders, but there are no good leaders who are not good followers. Sure, there are some people who think they are too good to be a follower, but I bet their parade has only one person in it: themselves. The skills that make for good followers also make for good leaders.

I have a strong belief that you can be a winner as either a leader or a follower!

Answer 3

In a numbers game it could appear that leaders are more important....because there are many more followers than leaders....so loss of "one of the few" could really result in chaos....however the presence and solidarity of the followers is the actual "fabric of life" and once the fabric is breached....the whole thing can unravel....

In a moral sense...the followers may be deemed more important.....such as in "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few".....in literature and movies, when this concept is raised, it is usually a leader who is having this struggle....as the leader role often carries with it a paternalistic trait of responsibility to care for and protect the followers....thus, followers may appear to be more important...

In truth....leaders and followers are in complementary roles....can't have one without the other.....but there must be some balance and this is a balancing act that sometimes turns into a "tight rope act" that topples the most promising of leaders....and because often times the multitude of follower voices produces a din that outweighs the strong voice of the most competent leader.... this power can give an inflated sense of importance to the follower and can really destroy the balance needed for stability....are we surprised that it is "lonely at the top?"........

Answer 4

It's very subjective.
By this I mean not only the roll in which questioner or the answerer has in the relationship.
But also on how we consider importance.

In modern human (post neolithic revolution) society the stratagem of leaders is often like a game of chess, where the piece are sacrificed in order to win the objectives.

This being justified by the reasoning that it is for the over all good of the leader follower relationship.

In order to fully answer this question fully, it is necessary to examine the importance of the objective for both leader follower.

leader follower are components of a single entity, one could ask. What's more important, the head or the body?

Answer 5

Leaders, because there's generally a smaller number of leaders than followers. The ratio of leaders to followers is less than one. Therefore, in a leaders/followers system, where hypothetically the leader(s) collectively are equally valued as the followers collectively, individual leaders are valued more than individual followers.

Answer 6

The leaders because I am a follower and I don't want to be more important.
They need to know where, how or what to lead the followers to.

Answer 7

Neither is more important.

However, a leader does not need followers because one is always leading ones self.

[To Lorenzo] Martin Luther King jr. Was a leader during the civil rights movement and I doubt that anyone would describe him as a lion. An army of sheep lead by a Dumb lion can be defeated by an army of lions lead by a wise sheep.

Answer 8

mmm. Leaders are needed, but not without followers. I would say that a lot of people find it easier to be a follower and few make good leaders. I think everyone should strive to be their own leader.

Answer 9

Neither. They are of equal usefulness. Ahh the sheep would be lost without the one to follow. yet without the sheep, we would be a bunch of leaders trying to boss each other around and then where would we get? The most important are the ones that neither lead nor follow... yet travel their own path.

Answer 10

what's more important is knowing when to lead and when to follow.
[added]
It also depends on if you ask a leader or a follower, which answers you will get.