Sam Rayburn once said, "You cannot be a leader and ask other people to follow you, unless you know how to follow, too." (Any article that quotes Sam Rayburn must be worth reading. - Ed.) Every leader, from a Cadet flight sergeant to the President of the United States started out a follower. Before they started to lead others, these people had to learn how to follow and during that time, they also learned how to lead. Followership and leadership hold some different qualities, but they are also deeply connected.

Followership is defined by dictionary.com as "the act or instance of accepting the guidance and command of someone who leads or guides". As a basic Cadet, one tends to have very little knowledge of the CAP Cadet Program and they do not have the knowledge or skills necessary to lead or influence others effectively. Leadership 2000 and Beyond, Volume 1 tells us that the job of a follower is to know what their job is and to know how to do that job. A follower is also responsible for maintaining a leader-follower relationship by asking questions and keeping the leader up to date on what is going on. The final responsibility of followers is the responsibility to themselves. Part of this is to take responsibility for your development as a leader. Nobody else can do it for you. As a Cadet advances in grade and gains experience in CAP, they should have also gained self-discipline, motivation, and loyalty to the Cadet program and the leaders that they follow. These qualities are the basis of each and every leader.

In Leadership 2000 and Beyond, Volume 1, we read that leadership is "the art of influencing and directing people in such a way that will win their obedience, confidence, respect and loyal cooperation in achieving a common objective". Cadet leaders may hold the responsibility of a being a mentor, the Cadet commander of their squadron, or they could just have the responsibility to themselves and the responsibility to be a good influence to those around them. A person does not necessarily have to be in an assigned leadership position to be an influence to those around them. L2K tells us that a person will follow the leader that they feel acts the way a good leader is supposed to act. That is why the qualities of integrity, loyalty, discipline, initiative and responsibility are vital to being a leader. If a leader does not show these qualities, they are likely to lose the respect and loyalty from the individuals they are leading.

Leadership and followership are essential to each other. Without the skills and qualities that a person gains as a follower, they could not lead effectively. But with the development of such qualities as self-discipline, responsibility and motivation, a person will be able to develop their leadership and become a competent leader that will be looked up to and willingly followed.