Tag Archive for: followership

Hold on

It was a simple exampleโ€ฆ
Last week we met with our Mission Leadership Council in our home.
It is always a powerful experience as we talk, share and counsel together.
A few themes emerged in our session.
Followership and Discipleship were two of them.
The flip side of leadership is followership.
Powerful followership is not about being blindly obedient or passively compliant; it involves active engagement, participation, constructive thinking, shared responsibility, taking direction and to ๐’‰๐’๐’๐’… ๐’๐’.
It matters โ€“ a lot!
With the help of one of the missionaries, I used a teaching exercise that captured an insightful message.
I asked Brigitta Broadbent to stand and extend her hand a few inches below my own hand.
Then, I invited her to follow the movements of my hand from side to side and up and down.
I moved my hand rapidly and unpredictably.
Although Brigitta did well, it was evident for all to see that as the follower, she often fell behind.
I asked Brigitta and the others how could she do better?
Their responseโ€ฆ?
It was simple reallyโ€ฆ
Trusting me, she clasped my hand and held on.
We tried again.
The result?
It was easy for Brigitta to follow my hand movements with exactness and precision.
Similarly, every missionary, as a follower and disciple of Jesus Christ, works tirelessly to be as close to Jesus Christ, by holding on to Him.
Daily, they place their nametags next to their hearts, as a constant reminder as to who they follow and cling to.
Part of following Jesus Christ is leading others to Him.
Neal A. Maxwell said: โ€œWe cannot lead or draw others to Christ unless we stand closer to Him than they do.โ€
How can you be a better follower?

Followership

“What must I do to become a better leader” asked a coachee?

All around the world, people everywhere are looking for someone to follow, for someone to lead them. I believe that we can develop the ability to lead if we will simply work at it.

Life experience has taught me that a leader is a person who goes ahead of others to direct or guide them or to show them how to do something. Leaders help others to grow. Leaders not only inspire others as to what to do and how to do it, they also show them by example. .

“๐“๐ก๐ž ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ฅ๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐œ๐ก๐š๐ง๐ ๐ž๐ ๐›๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ž๐ฑ๐š๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ž, ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐›๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ข๐ง๐ข๐จ๐ง” – Paulo Coehlo

The biggest challenge for many aspiring leaders is that so many want to change their circumstances but are unwilling to change themselves. To be a great leader, firstly we need to learn how to follow. Have the courage to follow and then show others how to follow.

Great leadership demands a large quantity of hard work, industry, courage, positivity, a growth mindset, planning, preparation, gritty determination, humility and the ability to follow-through.

So, you want to be a better leader? I suggest you begin by really understanding how you can be a better follower, it is the key to leadership.