Follow the Leader By Dr. Teresa Moon

Life Lessons From the Days of Follow the Leader

Did you play the childhood game “Follow the Leader?” There is always a leader, but everyone else follows and leads until the last person in line. The people following you were following whoever you were following. If a follower goes rogue, their followers must decide who to follow next. 

Watching children play this game is revealing. Sometimes, there’s tension over being the leader. But most of the time, they are happy to follow. It feels safer. You don’t have to come up with all the ideas—the places to go or things to do—you do what the person you are following does. Knowing who to follow provides a sense of security. 

Leader Versus Follower

 Being a “leader” often sounds more glamorous than being a “follower.” But in truth, we all want to follow someone. Someone who empowers us to flourish.

When we understand this human desire, we realize the great responsibility of leading others. As leaders, we have the privilege of empowering our followers to flourish. Great leaders genuinely want those following them to thrive.

 Cultivate Thriving

Here are three essential steps to advance thriving!

(1) Create an environment that nourishes flourishing. You must cultivate a culture of belonging, where everyone feels accepted and believes they contribute to the team.

(2) Provide clarity. We all follow clarity. Your followers need to understand the next steps under your chosen pathogen.

(3) Cultivate a life-giving community. By understanding what drains your team’s energy, you can cultivate a culture inviting followers to self-discovery, growth, and service.  

Flourishing Multiples

Flourishing followers cultivate more flourishing. When you thrive, others are drawn to it and start following it. Excellent followers lead others well—the cycle renews itself.

On the other hand, if I don’t seek flourishing for my followers, the path gets more challenging for all of us. They will draw away from me and likely the mission I’m pursuing. Their leadership will pull in a different direction, and they will take others along. 

Learn to Follow

 The best leaders are excellent followers first. I don’t want to over-extend the metaphor of a children’s game, but it works best when every follower is following their leader. I can’t leave this topic without highlighting that, for the Christian, this means those following us should be following Jesus. They should look more like Jesus the longer they follow us. 

With this mindset, we can connect with our followers as fellow followers—followers who want our followers to flourish because our leader wants them to thrive!

####

Dr. Teresa Moon is the founding President and CEO of the Institute for Cultural Communicators. She designs state-of-the-art digital immersive learning environments and in-person experiences that train students, teachers, and parents worldwide to become “cultural communicators” who can impact culture through relevant communication and extraordinary leadership.

Coming September 1 – October 31, 2025