Living a life full of leadership can be a great thing, but it can also be somewhat of an obstacle when it comes to other things. I have personally found it hard to sometimes let go and allow others to lead me while I follow. Being a follower means that you have to submit yourself to a cause or leader whom you are following. Even though following something or someone may be hard, there are also times when it comes naturally. The time I chose to be a follower is when I began pursuing a relationship with Jesus Christ. In life, there are times when I feel like I have to be in control of everything. That is not possible though. When you try to take charge of every single little thing, you cause unnecessary tribulations to come your way. We have to let go and be a follower in our lives. For some being a follower can be a small thing, but for me and some others it can completely change your life. When I became a follower of Jesus Christ a little over a year ago my outlook on life was completely changed. It was a decision that was made to surrender everything over to God after I was saved by Christ. …show more content…
Being a follower allowed me to step back and focus on myself. I always had this feeling of emptiness, but being a follower gave me a passion for Christ, life, and serving in any way I can. God guides me in the direction I needed to go and I just follow His will. Following other things in life can have similar outcomes. Following people or ideas allows you to see a new perspective on things, and can lead you to change your outlook on life. Choosing to be a follower may seem hard for people at first, but in most circumstances it leads to a positive
A great example of a non follower is leopard man. He is doing something totally out of the ordinary compared to everyone else. Its also a lot easier to follow and not lead which is also the main reason most people aren't leaders. It's like jumping on a train. It's a lot easier to just jump on and ride instead of driving the train. I think people should stop following and start leading.
In the world there are two distinct types of things. There are things that exist external to us, such as one's reputation or a relationship. We do not have direct control over these things since they exist outside of us. Then there are internal things that we do have control over, like out desires, or things we dislike. The internal things can be controlled, while the external can be harder to control. Some philosophers even believe that the external things cannot be controlled, and attempting to control them will just bring unhappiness.
Undoubtedly, Leaders can be further broken down into quite a few ways. Leadership roles are not for everyone and can be difficult to obtain. Some people do not want to be a Leader even if he or she has the leadership skills. Being a Leader can be an intimidating role and add a lot of pressure to his or her life. When one takes on a Leader’s position, he or she can become big headed and take advantage of his or her leadership. Rebellious Leaders will lead people into dangerous situations like drug addictions and being placed in jail. Christian Leaders, or disciples, can bring people to Christ, and tha...
Primary service is the key. Many view this as a contradiction because the leader is leading and serving. How can a person do both? Good servant leaders are good listeners. The communication between the leader and the follower being served allows the leader to listen to the follower first, in order to understand what the other person has to say and to understand their needs. These leaders practice empathy as well. Understanding what the follower is facing or feeling is comforting to the follower because it validates their importance to another person. The ability to heal a person through care and the concern for a person’s well being is another quality of a servant leader. These are only a few of the characteristics that generate a strong servant leader. Mother Teresa said, “The miracle is not that we do this work, but that we are happy to do it.” Her words describe exactly what servant leaders do. Servant leaders serve others willingly because they find joy and pleasure in doing so. The outcome of serving others in this manner is growth and social impacts for a greater good. When there is an improvement in self-actualization, followers improve in their goal reaching or task completion by understanding their full potential to do
The second question was why people follow their leaders? As far as understand from the lectures followers are an important part of the leadership process and all leaders are sometimes followers as well. For instance, if I carry a chain and
It seems self-evident that one cannot be a leader unless he or she has followers; put differently, one cannot hold a leadership role unless others are prepared to hold followership roles. These roles are more or less symbiotic - done effectively, each role can support and benefit the other. Nevertheless, the term “follower” has acquired a negative connotation, and leadership is generally considered to be the pinnacle to which we should all strive in our working lives, if not our personal lives as well. However, thanks to the work of authors such as Robert E. Kinney, who introduced the concept of followership, the characteristics, roles and paths of followers now receive increased attention. Kinney’s groundbreaking article, “In Praise of Followers”, appears along with the work of other authors on followership in The Leaders Companion.
The authors then go deeper than just leading; they speak of being a leader and growing other leaders. One of the greatest challenges leaders today face is training and developing new leaders. Jesus wanted those around him to succeed. He had vision, values, and purpose, he stated them clearly, and did all he could to see they were carried out. In the book Lead Like Jesus we read how Jesus empowered and gave ownership to those around him, concerned more with their success than his own. It highlights that Jesus is the greatest leadership role model of all time, that He mandated Hi...
The leader by its meaning is one who goes first and leads by example and then the other will followed him after being motivated. The above diagram can be explain as; with the three combinations, the person or the leader will influence the other people or the follower to achieve the purpose or goal. In order to achieve the goal, the leader must have a deep rooted commitment to the goal that he will strive to achieve even if nobody follows him (Wong, 2007). The follower also can influence the leader in order to achieve the goal.
Ivey Business Journal. (n.d.). Followership: the other side of leadership. Retrieved January 14, 2014 from http:iveybusinessjournal.com/topics/leadership/leadership/followership-the-other-side-of-leadership#.UtbFeaFMHIU
While it may be argued that leadership and followership are merely two sides of the same coin, just as with a coin, there are still differences between the two which can be observed. As any great leader was, at some point in their life, a follower, many of the followership traits can be seen in a leader as well. It stands to reason that a follower has a leader they are following, but it is not as simple as train cars following behind the engine.
As defined by Kellerman (2008), there are five types of followers: bystanders, isolates, participants, activists, and diehards. At any given point, an organization can include members who fall into some or all of these categories. The isolates care very little for their leaders and the organization and generally just want to get the job done and do not respond well to leadership. In fact, isolates resent the idea of leadership. Bystanders on the other hand, are those followers who follow passively, observing from the side, rarely getting involved. They do not resent leadership as the isolates do, but offer very little support to the leaders. Participants care about the group/organization and generally want to make an impact, if they feel that the leader will support them. On the other hand, activists have strong beliefs about the organization and their leaders. If they agree with their leaders, they follow them almost blindly, but if they do not, they work to get rid of their leaders. Those employees with the highest level of engagement within an organization are diehards. If they agree with the path their leaders is taking them down is the right direction, they will follow. However, if they think their leader is destructive, “imposing goals on constituents without their agreement of regard for their long-term welfare” (Padilla et al., 2007, pg.177), then these followers
Another author that has investigated the followership topic but asserts a few qualifications between her work and others is Kellerman. She characterizes her work as more descriptive than prescriptive as she considers there must be such a variety of variables impacting the followers behaviors that it is hard to be instructive. According to Kellerman (2008), there are two conceivable definitions about followers: “Followers can be defined by their rank: They are subordinates who have less power, authority, and influence then do their superiors”. And “followers can also be defined by their behavior: they go along with what someone else wants and intends”. Kellerman (2008) uses rank and behavior as determinants to characterize followers, focusing
Servant leaders often emulate other leaders that they admire and look to for guidance. Being a good role model also teaches students. Being a leader will require a lot of listening. My followers will look for answers to the questions that they have. Listening and problem solving will be require a large amount of
...o be obedient, we must keep our baptismal covenants to the best of our ability. We must follow the counsel of our Prophet and leaders and be willing to walk by faith. We must be willing to “go and do” just as Nephi did also. We must never doubt a commandment and we must always strive to be our best. Being obedient to the Lord’s will has the capacity to…more freely invite the Spirit into our lives, increase our faith and love in Christ and help us to be the disciples that we strive to be. We will be able to learn and grow in the gospel. We will enjoy happiness and freedoms in their purest forms. Obedience now prepares us to be the greatest missionaries we can be as well as setting an example to our brothers and sisters.
I believe true leadership is a quality many aspire to have, and only a few truly obtain, because in order to become a leader you must first learn to follow.