Creating Followers
Leaders often try too hard to create followers. This never works. The best way to inspire people to follow your leadership is to live in such a way that they won't be able to resist you. A leader’s job is to genuinely love others and continually work hard to develop themselves. In this way, you will make yourself irresistible and indispensable. Here are 6 ways to become a leader that others will want to follow.
1. Don’t show off.
People are attracted to humility. Instead of spotlighting yourself, turn the spotlight on the lives of the people you lead. Show them off. True leadership goes against everything that is self-serving. Cultivating a mindset to serve OTHERS takes an enormous amount of discipline and regular dying to self.
True leadership is not glamorous. More than often, it is a thankless job and can be very draining at times. Yet, we can’t live for others until we die to ourselves. This goes against the grain of today’s success motivated, platform-driven, celebritist leader.
Ask God to help you become a person that would rather influence people with your actions versus your appearance. It’s easy to impress people on the surface, but it’s much more difficult, yet rewarding, to make a lasting, positive impression on someone’s life.
2. Talk well of people.
Poor leaders speak poorly of others. Proverbs 29:12 ESV says “If a ruler listens to falsehood, all his officials will be wicked.” Before talking about others, ask yourself this question: What would Jesus say this about this person?
You can always find something good even in the most difficult people. People follow positivity. So, speak positively. God’s heart is to build people up. Leaders who chip away at the image of others actually work against God. This is a losing battle.
Every time you speak badly of someone, it doesn’t look bad on them; it looks bad on you. Even worse, when you speak negatively about others, people lose trust in you. They’re probably wondering if you’re speaking poorly of them in the presence of others. Remember, speaking well of others not only makes them look good, it also makes you look even better.
3. Drop the entitlement.
Real influence is earned with every single person, every second you lead. Some people may know of your past exploits, but it matters very little if they have no context in experience or relationship with you. People follow those who invest special interest in THEM.
Titles can be idols. Don’t lead from your title, lead from your heart. Entitlement says, “I’ve done this, so I deserve that.” Entitlement breeds contempt. When you see others ascending the ranks with fewer qualification or experience than you, it has the potential to cause bitterness.
Remember, none of us deserve one good thing from God. Every gift that comes to us is because of undeserved grace. So, stay humble and grateful for every opportunity you have to lead.
4. Quit Blaming others.
Don’t blame others. Let others discover their own part in the blame. Your job is to be an example of your contribution in the leadership narrative (good or bad). Take personal responsibility. We lead by example. If we are constantly passing blame, people will model it, and nothing will change.
Be appropriately transparent about where you have failed. People will begin to learn that the buck stops with them. When each person on your teams start to take personal responsibility, it will transform your organization.
Yes, we need to coach people through their mistakes, but the best way to do this is to help them see their failures themselves. Use personal examples where you went wrong in your own process, and help guide them through their own process. The important thing is not to make people feel badly about themselves, but rather become determined to do better.
5. Embrace Positive Change.
Not all change is good, and I’m certainly not suggesting we should change for change’s sake. However, as leaders, we simply cannot resist change. You’re going to have to change whether you want to or not. You’ll need to learn now that everything changes. Even when you’re in the best of circumstances, time has a way of messing it all up.
Nothing stays the same forever. Systems that were once good become antiquated. You’ll have to suck it up and brave the future, knowing that leaders come and go, and that environments constantly shift. Nothing is static. Shift happens!
Resist a permanence mindset. Refuse to settle for too long. Gird up your mind and be flexible. Celebrate your wins, but quickly prepare for the next move. Life fluctuates between the setups and the upsets.
Remember, seasons change. You may be in a season of adversity right now, but it won’t always be this way. Be encouraged leader, just like nothing stays good forever, nothing stays bad forever, unless you let it.
6. Stop wasting time.
The biggest waste in life is to waste your life. Time is the most precious commodity we have. Time is actually more valuable than money. Think of all the things you would do over if you could get time back (i.e. the people you’ve hurt, the missed opportunities, the financial regrets, etc.)
Now, before you get all depressed on me, I’m not suggesting you wallow in what you’ve wasted. However, you should seriously consider the time you have in front of you. You are going to die, so stop wasting your days. Don’t dwell on days gone by. Use the past as a reference but never as a compass.
If you’ve wasted time, there is good news. We can redeem our time (Ephesians 5:16). Don’t spend one more second of your time and energy on people and projects that don’t matter. Give your best self to what’s truly important. Pour yourself into it. By all means, don’t waste your days on jealousy anger and unforgiveness.
I once heard a story of a man who had only 6-months to live. He wanted his days to count, so he filled a jar with a marble for every day he had left. Each day, he took a marble out of the jar. As the jar slowly emptied of marbles, he was faced with the sobering reality of the days that he had left. To this, he was reminded to make the most out of his days.
What are you doing with the days you have left? How will you approach them differently? Moving forward, I suggest you seize every moment. Get those projects, goals, dreams, and aspirations off the backburner, and start doing what you’ve been contemplating way too long. Don’t wait until someday to do what you should do now. Someday is just another word for never.
