Followers Who Flourish

Did you play the childhood game “Follow the Leader?” There is always a leader, but everyone else is both following and leading, until the last person in line. The people following you were following whoever you were following. If a follower goes rogue, their followers have to 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 just do what the person you are following does. Knowing who to follow provides a sense of security. 

Often, being a “leader” 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 very human desire, we realize what a great responsibility it is to lead others. As leaders, we have the precious privilege of empowering our followers to flourish. Great leaders genuinely want those following them to thrive.

We need to cultivate that thriving. Your followers will flourish when:

• you create an environment that nourishes flourishing. One that cultivates a culture of belonging, where everyone in it feels accepted and believes in their value to the team.

• you provide clarity. Just like we explored in my last post, we all follow clarity. Your followers need to understand the path you put them on and what the next steps are.

• they experience life-giving community. By understanding what sucks the life out of your team, you can cultivate a culture that invites followers into self-discovery, growth, and service.  

And do you want to know something pretty amazing?

Flourishing followers cultivate more flourishing. When your team is thriving, others are drawn to that and start following them. Really good followers lead others really 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 be drawn away from me and likely the mission I’m pursuing. Their own leadership will pull in a different direction, and they will take others along with them. 

Next week, we’ll dive into what to do if your followers really aren’t flourishing despite your best attempts. But for now, here’s an important reminder to reflect upon:

The best leaders are really good 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, and ultimately following The 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 a fellow follower. A follower who wants our followers to flourish. Because our Leader wants them to flourish. 

I’d love to see your responses in the comments.