Episode 769 Great Leaders are Great Followers First
[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: [00:00:00] Thanks for joining me on episode 769 of the inspired stewardship podcast. I'm Annie Purdue Olson from leading better together. I encourage you to find the courage to lead in ministry well, and one way to be inspired to do that is by listening to this, the inspired stewardship podcast with my friend, Scott Mader.
[00:00:29] now. And before they came out of learning to be a follower, that's part of what servant leadership is. It's being a leader. Not from the front, not in the spotlight, but from beside and within those who you lead so that you travel forward together. Welcome and thank you for joining us on the inspired stewardship podcast.
[00:00:58] If you truly desire to [00:01:00] become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent and your treasures for your true calling and the inspired stewardship podcast. We'll learn to invest in yourself, invest in others and develop your influence so that you. Can impact the work
[00:01:24] and today's episode about developing your influence through stewarding your talent. I talk with you about why to be a leader. You also need to be a follower why this is often misunderstood in leadership. And I share how this looks in the real world. You've heard me talk about developing your talent and what are the best ways to do that is through books.
[00:01:46] But if you're like most people today, it's hard to find the time to read. And that's why today's podcast is brought to you by audible. Go to inspired stewardship.com/audible to sign up and you can get [00:02:00] a 30 day free trial. There's over 180,000 titles to choose from. And you can pick one and listen your way to developing your talents via audible.
[00:02:12] That's inspired stewardship.com/audible to get your free trial and listen to great books the same way you're listening to this podcast. One of the things about leadership that seems a little bit contradictory or a little bit of a paradox, is that to be a really good leader, you also need to be a really good.
[00:02:38] Follower. In fact, I would argue that if you look at examples of great leaders, they almost always started as being a follower. The truth is I think a lot of folks see themselves as a leader. And I think that a lot of folks even really are a leader, but to be a really great [00:03:00] leader, you have to learn.
[00:03:02] About being a follower. If you look at Joshua, Joshua followed Moses for more than 40 years before actually taking over and leading the children of Israel into the promised land. Elijah served Elijah for 10 years before he took up the mantle and went on to become a prophet. Peter followed Jesus for years and made many mistakes, but then became the leader of the disciples and began to.
[00:03:30] Turn the world upside down. In fact, I would argue that whether you look at biblical figures like that or leaders throughout culture, it's clear that the best leaders have always, either followed a great leader or at least spent some time as a follower. And what's more, they even follow while they're in the leadership position.
[00:03:54] And we'll talk more about that later. And I would argue that the worst leaders, the [00:04:00] examples of really bad leadership, tyrant type leaders, where leadership is all about them in part are that way, because they've never learned to be a follower. That's part of what being narcissistic being so centered on your own.
[00:04:17] Abilities. And what is making it all about you? Does, the truth is great. Followers have some characteristics in common, Michael Hyatt talks about how great followers are clear. They understand their role. They have identified who the leader is, and yet they also recognize that they're a leader in their part.
[00:04:46] But there's someone else who may lead in other things. They recognize their own abilities and their own skills, and they know what they're good at and what they're not. They are obedient. They are able to [00:05:00] follow orders. They're able to follow instructions from others that come into their life. They're servants.
[00:05:07] They look at what needs to be done and they get it done. Not without. No, not with complaining or grumbling or being upset, but they set out to just get it done. They're humble. They don't demand the spotlight. They don't want to make everything about them and they're loyal. They set out to find a way to make sure that whatever organization they're part of, what other leaders they have.
[00:05:35] They are always loyal to that organization. And if there is a problem with the organization, they either handle it privately and correctly, or they leave the organization. If that's necessary. The truth is, I think it's really misunderstood that leaders first serve as a followers, but I would argue even more.
[00:06:00] [00:05:59] Leaders continue to be a follower even while they're in leadership. And the reason that is, is because when you are a leader, if you are truly a servant leader, you have to work with your followers. You have to partner with your followers. That's how you lead. And that partnership means that you have to have patience.
[00:06:22] You have to be able to listen. You have to not jump to conclusions and you have to see what's going on. You have to have respect for your followers. And that respect means you're listening to them and you are also serving them. You have to set out to have effective communication with them. You have to have your followers understand what's going on and be able to talk to them and understand their language and their points as well.
[00:06:50] It means that if you're a great leader, You're actually following your followers to some extent, not by way of just doing what they [00:07:00] say, but you need their input. You need them to buy into what's going on. If they don't buy into the vision, then you have no followers and you're not a leader. This is why it's so misunderstood.
[00:07:14] But the truth is, if you think about it, if you look into the real world, think about. Somebody who you've interacted with, who you consider a great leader brainstorm. What are the characteristics of that leader? Where they, someone who listened to those around them? Were they someone who had humility and didn't always make it about them, where they, someone you could trust.
[00:07:41] And even if you disagreed with them, you knew if they said it, if they said they were going to do something, they were going to do it. Even if it was something you didn't like, you could trust that when they said it, it was the truth. If that's the kind of leader that you see as a good leader, the truth is that's the [00:08:00] kind of leader that also.
[00:08:02] Is a great follower both now and before they came out of learning to be a follower. That's part of what servant leadership is. It's being a leader, not from the front, not in the spotlight, but from beside and within those who you lead so that you travel forward together. Thanks for listening.
[00:08:34] thanks so much for listening to the inspired stewardship podcast as a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listened, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you liked this episode on the stewardship of talent, you can go over to inspired stewardship.com/talent and sign up.
[00:09:00] [00:09:00] For our five week series on the stewardship of talent, or if you're in the U S you can text four, four, two, two, two talent tips. That's talent tips to four four, two, two, two, and get those tips until next time, invest your time, your talent and your treasures. Develop your influence and impact the world.