You’re Called to Follow the Leader By Donna Bostick

Christian leaders grow when they follow the leader.

Remember playing Follow the Leader? One person was chosen to lead, and everyone else had one job: follow.

If the leader jumped, you jumped. If the leader turned around, you turned around. If the leader walked in circles, everyone walked in circles. The challenge wasn’t deciding where to go. It was paying close enough attention to follow.

Somewhere along the way, leadership became much more complicated. We spend a great deal of time thinking about who is following us. Are we influencing others? Developing people? Building teams? Moving the mission forward? Those are important questions, but perhaps Christian leaders need to turn the game around occasionally and ask a different one: Who am I following?

Leaders Were Followers First

The apostle Paul wrote,

“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ”

1 Corinthians 11:1, NIV

Notice the order. Paul could invite others to follow because he was already following someone.

That is at the heart of Christian leadership. We may be responsible for organizations, ministries, teams, strategies, budgets, and people, but we never graduate from following Jesus. Before Jesus’ disciples led the early church, He gave them a remarkably simple invitation: “Follow me.” Before the teaching, ministry, leadership assignments, and Great Commission, there was following.

Following Requires Paying Attention

Think again about that childhood game. You couldn’t successfully follow the leader while watching everyone else. You had to keep your eyes on the person in front of you. That may hold a lesson for leaders today.

Leadership brings plenty of distractions. Goals to achieve, problems to solve, people to lead, expectations to meet, and decisions to make. It can become surprisingly easy to spend so much time leading that we stop paying attention to where God is leading.

Following Jesus requires attention. It means listening before speaking, seeking God before setting direction, remaining teachable, receiving wise counsel, and recognizing when someone else may be better equipped to lead in a particular moment. Following well is not a sign of weak leadership. It is a sign of humble leadership.

Great Leaders Know When to Follow

Healthy leaders do not need to be first in every room. They recognize the gifts and wisdom God has placed in others. They permit people to challenge their thinking, listen to different experiences and expertise, and are secure enough to step aside when someone else should lead.

Perhaps one of the quiet dangers of leadership is becoming so accustomed to people following us that we forget how to follow.

So maybe it is time for another round of Follow the Leader. Only this time, the question isn’t whether others are watching us. The question is: Who are we watching?

Who has permission to speak into your leadership? Who can challenge you? Who are you learning from? And above every other voice, are you paying close enough attention to Jesus to recognize where He is leading?

Know The Leader

At Christian Leadership Alliance, we believe leadership development is about more than becoming better at leading others. It is about becoming leaders who remain teachable, accountable, humble, and deeply committed to following Christ.

Because the best Christian leaders never stop playing Follow the Leader.

They know who THE leader is.

Donna Bostick serves as Manager of Conference Engagement at CLA. With 28 years of marketplace leadership and a passion for Christian leadership development, she helps leaders grow, serve, and multiply God’s light.

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