The strength of a leader is found in the strength of the followers. 

You are not a leader unless you have followers. 

You are not a great leader unless you have great followers. Greatness is defined by quality, not quantity. Jesus started with 12. Great leaders should look to develop a small, tight circle of outstanding followers, before they look to grow a large organization. 

If you look around and you are thinking that you are leader and there is no one following you, then you have a problem. Your problem might be that you are not a leader. Pure and simple, leaders have followers. So, if you think you are a leader and no one is following you, then you are a lone wolf. The lone wolf hunts alone, eats alone, howls alone and dies alone. There is no such thing as a lone wolf leader.  A lone wolf who thinks they are a leader, might have a leadership position, but this doesn’t mean that they have any followers. A lone wolf leader is really like an independent contractor. They work for themselves, task people for their benefit and at the end of the day will be surrounded by no one. They are loyal to themselves and subsequently don’t receive the loyalty of those around them. Wolves are effective when they hunt in a pack, eat as pack, howl as a pack and stay in the pack. They control more territory, eat better meals and produce more wolves. But, there is always a leader (the alpha) in a wolf pack. Every wolf must learn their role and fit in that role or be expelled from the pack. Wolves without packs are in a precarious position. Leaders without followers are in a precarious position. 

Great leaders have great followers. Followers are real people. This is important. Leaders must assess if the people around them are truly following them in reality, not just in fantasy. Jimmy Collins, retired Chick-fil-A President, makes a distinction between followers (those following a leader) and workers (those occupying positions and doing tasks).  Many leaders have deceived themselves thinking that the people around them are following them, when in reality, they were not.

~Leaders must capture the heart of their followers. This is where inspiration takes place. People want to be inspired. A follower is inspired, a worker is not. The quickest way to move someone who is only a worker to a follower is to inspire them. A worker is just filling time and space by performing a task or duty solely for a personal benefit. The only way to capture a heart is to first connect with the heart. You can appeal to someone’s mind or their wallet and never connect with their heart. The leader must demonstrate genuine care and concern for the individual for any chance of a true connection to happen. Followers willingly surrender their heart to the leader when they are inspired to follow. The surrendered heart is, well and truly, the only captured heart. Any other type of capturing of the heart is just holding someone’s heart hostage through manipulation or coercion.

How to Apply: A good way to apply this is to have a one-on-one meeting with the follower. A leader who can cast a vision that is embraced by the follower has the opportunity to capture the heart. A leader that can open his/her heart and have a worker open their heart and share is close to winning the heart. If you can relate a message to your follower and the follower believes the message and then shares the message with others, then a heart has been won. A good test of this is in the request. What can the leader request of the follower without asking, “Have I won your heart?” (that would be entirely awkward, don’t do that). It’s simple, can you stay a few minutes longer today? Can you come in early? Can you help me with a special project? You are asking if they can do more. If the request is greeted with immediate embrace, enthusiasm or energy, then you have probably won the heart. A captured heart can become a loyal heart…

~Leaders must win the loyalty of their followers. Loyalty is a freely given commitment of allegiance from follower to leader. But, this commitment always starts with the leader. Leaders must first give their loyalty to those who they desire to follow them. Leaders must always demonstrate allegiance to those they wish to follow. When leaders take this loyalty for granted in their followers, they weaken the heart bond and create and environment of mistrust and suspicion. A leader must express clear motivation when making decisions that affect those that are following. Without expressing motivation, erosion of trust has the potential to develop. A leader to maintain loyalty must guard trust at all costs. Trust is guarded and solidified by transparency. Transparency on the part of the leader and on the part of the followers.  Tenure is not a test of loyalty. Be careful, just because someone has been around for a long time, doesn’t mean you’ve won their loyalty. Money creates a false sense of loyalty. Leaders have to be careful to test if the loyalty is to the money or to the leader.

How to Apply: The test of loyalty comes in the response. Workers respond slowly, methodically and selfishly. Followers respond quickly, passionately and selflessly. A good practice for leaders is to ask challenging, difficult or new things of those working for them, then, measure the response. Good workers will still get the job done, but their response is a pained response, a slow response or a bothered response. Workers respond to be left alone. A good follower will respond to this new challenge with enthusiasm. A good follower embraces the leaders directions or directives. Followers respond to please. 

~Leaders must earn the respect of their followers. Transparency earns respect. Respect has to be earned. Respect cannot be demanded. Demanded respect is the basis of tyranny. Tyrants in the work place are bossy, self-centered and egotistical. Leaders must truly serve their organization and serve the followers of their organization. This means they work hard to not only initially earn their followers’ respect, but always work to maintain the respect of their followers. This means the leader’s actions, conduct, speech and behavior must be above and beyond reproach.

How to Apply: A good practice for leaders is to publicly honor their followers as much as possible in ways that are authentic and meaningful. Another good practice for a leader is to not demand the spotlight or demand elevated status in the organization, but share the spotlight and elevate others as much as possible. A good practice for leaders is to be the example. This means first modeling the behavior for your followers. Instead of saying, “Go do this or let me see that.” Leaders say, “Let me show you how or I will demonstrate for you.” A poor work ethic, sloppy performance or distracted attention will cause respect to erode from your followers. Remember names, details, families, and personal interests of those that follow you. This generates much respect. Followers expect leaders to be different than them. I personally try to remember names of people and things about people after just one meeting. I try to give my full and immediate attention when I am in a one-on-one setting. This means I must give my undivided attention to the person and then actually think about them and what we talked about. Also, I try to speak to each of my followers as much as possible making a joke, using self-deprecation or praising the work that is done. Knowing personal life details about your followers is a quick way to earn respect, loyalty and their heart.

It’s not the quantity of followers that makes you great leader, it is in the quality of the followers you have that determines the greatness of your leading. Great leaders have great followers. Every great leader is a great follower, but every great follower isn’t a great leader.

“Come follow Me“

Jesus

(Mark 1:17)

(c) 2016. Redwall Leadership Academy.