A Phenomenological Study of Different Followership Styles as Perceived or Experienced by Officers and Non-commissioned Officers While Serving on Combat Missions in Afghanistan or Iraq Wars

December 3, 2025

A Phenomenological Study of Different Followership Styles as Perceived or Experienced by Officers and Non-commissioned Officers While Serving on Combat Missions in Afghanistan or Iraq Wars

Nestor Luis Colls-Senaha | 2018

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the different followership styles, as experienced and perceived by United States Army officers and noncommissioned officers serving in combat situations in the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars. Literature is almost nonexistent concerning followership in the military. In particular, what is not evident are the different followership styles exhibited by United State Army officers and noncommissioned officers in different situations. This qualitative study incorporated a hermeneutic phenomenological approach by conducting in-depth, semistructured interviews. The research was reduced to one central overarching question and several subquestions. The open-ended supporting questions further analyzed the phenomenon and divided the central question into supportive parts. Purposeful sampling was used to select 10 personnel from the 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Georgia who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) or Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). Eighteen candidates were contacted; of these, 12 accepted and three later dropped out, which resulted in nine qualified participants. The research used NVivo, computer-assisted qualitative analysis software, to assist in coding and categorizing responses from the interviews. The sample population was limited to the 3rd Infantry Division, and the convenience sample may have impacted the data because it was chosen for the proximity to the researcher. The study concluded there is no one best followership style that is best for every situation.

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