Leadership

Mat 4:19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.


OBservations:
Every man is either a leader or a follower; neither is anything without the other. A leader cannot be a true leader until he has followers; every leader needs followers. Every follower needs a leader too. The two work together for the betterment of one another; as a follower builds the leader, so the leaders draws more followers. One must conclude then that a follower is as important as the leader. Good leaders make followers, they gather them unto themselves. Every follower then, makes his leader stronger by merely following.

To be a good leader, one must first have been a good follower; Good followers make the best leaders. It behooves us then, whether we are followers of leaders, to be the best we can be. As followers, we must work to promote the leader, so that when we become a leader, we can build new followers--and so the cycle goes.

A leader is not a “pusher”, he leads from the front, and not from behind. Any leader that has to push his men into action is not a qualified leader, but a “wolf in sheep’s clothing”. Ambition makes a man want to be a leader, but it takes more than ambition to lead; zeal is fine, and a good quality to have, but zeal does not make a man a leader. We often confuse the issue, and elect a leader because of his ambition or zeal, but when we learn to look at his history, we can more rightly judge his abilities. A knowledge of the “battle” and knowing his enemy is important, but it is not leadership in itself; a leader becomes a number of good qualities, developed through experience and wisdom. A wise leader is a good listener.

Leaders, take care of your followers, they are a ladder to your success. They will remain loyal to you when you desperately need loyalty, and that is an important commodity for followers.

Respect is a two-way street; too many leaders demand respect because they have the title, and not because they are worthy of it. Work to make yourself worthy of their respect, and in return, respect them; like love, loyalty is reciprocated easily when given liberally.