Good Leaders Follow Well

Audio Version

As I was growing up, my father would tell me simple but wise statements. One of the statements he would say to me is, “If you want to be a good leader, you have to, first, be a good follower.”  Over time, this statement has made more and more sense to me, and I understand that great leadership stems from being a great follower.

One childhood game that some of us may have played does a great job of adequately depicting the concept of being a great follower to become the leader. Have you guessed, or do you remember what game this might be? Hopefully, the game you guessed or remembered was “Follow the leader.” In this game, you have a leader and people who follow what the leader does. The followers focus on what the leader does and imitate it. Although the focus is on the leader, the winner is determined by how well they follow the leader, and the one who follows the best becomes the new leader. What a concept! Yes, in the real world, picking a leader based only on who follows the best might not be the best thing to do. Other variables must be considered when determining the next leader of an organization, team, or community. Even with this truth, I am convinced that great leaders are also great followers.

So the questions are: “Who do you follow?” and “How well do you follow?”The first question may be the most important because the characteristics a leader displays are greatly influenced by who the leader follows. So we must first consider who we follow. In the long run, it can be very detrimental to a leader to follow someone with bad character, a horrible work ethic, and a lack of integrity. On the other hand, it can be very beneficial for a leader to follow someone with great character, work ethic, integrity, innovation, and people skills, and apply those characteristics to their leadership. It matters who we follow, and we must be very careful about who we follow if we want to become and remain a great leader.

Now, how confident are you with your choice of who you follow? Are you following someone you know will help you help others? Do you incorporate their principles in your leadership because you believe that others would benefit from following them as well? Let’s not forget that it matters how well we follow, but it matters more who we follow. A man named Paul understood how much who he followed mattered to his leadership, and he made a statement to the church of Corinth that communicated his understanding and conviction of this truth. He said, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” So, as we lead, we must remember the importance of following, and our success, as well as the success of those who follow us, is not only about how well we follow, but about who we follow.

Application:

1. Follow with Intentionality: We must be intentional about who we choose as a mentor or coach. It is very important to examine their character and values before choosing to follow them. If they do not reflect the principles you want to develop and incorporate in your leadership, I suggest choosing someone else. Just like the game of Follow the Leader, if we follow these individuals well, then our chances of obtaining sustainable success increase.
2. Model Following Well: As my father said, "If you want to be a good leader, you have to, first, be a good follower." Those who follow us should know that we follow well. We can do this by letting them know where our philosophy comes from and why we do what we do. We can also do this by listening to those we lead. Some of the best ideas come from those we lead. We can prove we follow well by listening to and following the advice of those we lead. When we do this, we can expect them to do the same.
3. Pay Attention to Each Follower: How do we know who is following well? We must pay attention to those we are leading. This means we must go to where they are. If we are leading in an organization, we have to come out of our office. If we coach a team, we must observe how each team member implements the principles and concepts we taught them. Paying attention to our people helps us gather the information needed to make adjustments and create systems that are designed to help our followers follow well.

Conclusion:

As leaders, let's not neglect the importance of following. In fact, it might be one of the most important aspects of leadership because in the act of following, we can learn important lessons that will help us in our own leadership. And when we follow a great leader, we learn what great leadership looks like. I hope that our leadership is helping our followers learn how to lead well. As we follow with intentionality, model following well, and pay attention to each follower, let us continually remind ourselves and others—as we prepare them to become leaders or better ones— that to be a good leader, we must follow well.

Additional Comments:

Thank you for reading or listening to this blog, and I hope it was meaningful to you. Please share this with others and insert your questions, comments, feedback, and suggestions in the comments section on this page. Stay tuned for the next blog post in October, and I hope you have a blessed day, week, and month ahead.