Leading and Following

Recently I had an opportunity to talk with some of our leaders at VCC about the principles of leadership and followership.
We’ve all placed so much emphasis on training leaders that we can forget the connection between both leading and following.

The reality is even the greatest leaders remain followers.

Dr. Tim Elmore (a disciple of John Maxwell) gives us some great reminders about followership:

1. Never stop following, no matter how well you lead.
Regardless of age, experience or status, effective leaders never cease practicing the art of followership. They see the big picture and recognize the role they play just as their teams must do.

2. We are all leading and following simultaneously When you think about it, every human being is both leading and following, all the time.

3. To be a complete leader, you must first practice the art of following.

Every healthy leader learns first how to play a role in submission to a team, a leader and a vision. The art of followership is a stepping stone on the path to becoming a leader regardless of our personality, ideas, age or talent.

The bottom line – When you are an effective follower, you’ll eventually become a person of influence. Following simply comes first.

By Larry Henderson