Leaders and followers

A while back, I took a six-week class on leadership. Our final project was to present a talk that addressed the statement, “I am a leader because ….”

It was a wonderful class; I learned a lot. But every time I sat down to work on my final project, I didn’t write a word. This continued until the evening before I was to present my talk. I’d written nothing, not because I’m a procrastinator but because I had absolutely nothing to say.

As I sat there, I realized I had nothing to say because I didn’t think of myself as a leader. I’d never aspired to be a leader, and felt very comfortable in supportive roles where others took the lead. I’d been raised to “do as you’re told, when you’re told, how you’re told.” Obedient child? I could talk for hours about that. Leader? Nothing.

In our discussions in leadership class, we’d talked mostly about biblical leaders—Moses, Joshua, Christ Jesus, the Apostle Paul. Since the class centered on Christian Science nursing, we’d also discussed the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy. These people were leaders, not me. My goal was to do my best to follow their teaching and example.

But I had this assignment, so I couldn’t leave it at that. Finally, I began to think more deeply about leadership.

In our class we had discussed at length the qualities and concepts associated with leadership. I remembered that the most basic requirement to be a leader is to have at least one follower. When this idea first came to mind, it didn’t help much; it just provided further proof that I didn’t qualify: No one is following me. And a real leader has lots of followers. Jesus and Moses had throngs of people following them all day, every day. They were leaders.

What makes me a leader is that I’m on a path that others will choose to follow.

But then it occurred to me: I do have “followers.” Who are they? They are all those who follow the same path I do—in the work I do, in the community where I live, in the way I choose to contribute to the world. I don’t know most of them by name; most of them won’t know my name. I don’t see them or talk with them or walk with them, but even though our relationship isn’t personal, it is very important: We’re on the same path. What makes me a leader is that I’m on a path of devotion to good that others will choose to follow. They aren’t following me, personally; it’s not about me, it’s about the path.

Christ Jesus referred to himself as “the way”; the Greek word, hodos, can also be translated “road,” “path,” or “journey.” It implies a travelled way—cleared and ready for others to walk on. Clearly, Jesus’ leadership role is unique, and Christians are Christians because they strive to follow his example. But in so doing, don’t we also become leaders in a sense ourselves? Aren’t we continuing to clear the way for others who are seeking it or trying to stay on it? No one can replace or duplicate the unique leadership role of Jesus, who exemplified the connection between God and His creation, or Mary Baker Eddy, who articulated the healing laws of Christian Science. Yet we can take courage in assuming leadership roles of different sorts. Eddy wrote in her autobiography, Retrospection and Introspection: “No person can compass or fulfil the individual mission of Jesus of Nazareth. No person can take the place of the author of Science and Health, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science. Each individual must fill his own niche in time and eternity” (p. 70 ).

I’m comforted by the fact that we’re all leaders, in the sense that others are drawn to follow the path we’re on. In this way, leadership isn’t a “lonely at the top” position. We’re all in this together. So we can help each other and learn from each other. How important it is to realize that learning is linked with leadership! Because that means we’re all qualified. It also means that humility and “teachableness” are valuable leadership qualities. Jesus spoke of humility as a blessed quality and of himself as “meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29 ). Research and polls even confirm that these qualities foster strength and growth in teams and organizations (see, for example, Alan Hall, “Be Humble and Teachable to Lay the Foundation of Success,” Forbes, April 26, 2013).

This line of reasoning made me realize that the most important aspect of my role as a leader is that it is secondary to that role with which I’m so comfortable—being a follower, an obedient child of God. As God’s child, I am guided and directed by Him—and this same divine guidance is also ordering the steps of everyone else, too. As Isaiah prophesied, “A little child shall lead them” (Isaiah 11:6 )—I take this to mean that the perfect laws of Love will guide each of us.

Needless to say, I had the ideas I needed for the talk I was to present, and I was so grateful to have the opportunity to share them the next day.

The next time a chairperson is needed for a committee or a volunteer is needed to head up a project, you might consider whether the person who has a lot to learn about it and would have to rely wholly on God would be the best candidate. And that person might be you! Don’t be shy about praying to know whether it might be right for you to step into a leadership role; don’t assume that you aren’t good enough, smart enough, or experienced enough. We can all go forward on those paths that give us opportunities to listen and learn and give and grow. All those who follow will be blessed, and so will you.