Tomorrow's Best Leaders are Today's Great Followers

The moment you embrace the fact that you are a follower, you instill that characteristic of a great leader in yourself.

Do not accept that you know everything, that you don't need other people's advice, and that you can survive on your own. You need other people, preferably those who inspire you.

Most of us look up to people who inspire us. We are inspired by people's character, behavior, and attitude. Characteristics like integrity, honesty, diligence, hard work, sincerity, patience, and more. Aspirations are responsible for the creation of our ladder to success. We are driven by these influential people.

Essentially, you mimic those people who inspire you. You are a follower. A follower of successful and inspirational people.

Deep inside, we are all leaders in our own way. If you want to be a great leader someday, you must first become a great follower today.

Let me show you examples of great followers who eventually became influential leaders:

• Joshua followed Moses for more than 40 years before leading the children of Israel into the promise land.
• Elisha followed Elijah for ten years before taking up his master's mantle and went on to perform even more miracles.
• The Apostle Peter followed Jesus for three years, and made a lot of mistakes, before he and his fellow disciples turned the world upside down.
  
  

Most of history's worst leaders never learned to follow. They became tyrants and assured the lives of their own followers to be miserable.

Here are 5 characteristics of great followers:

1. They are clear. They understand their role. You can't be a good follower if you can't identify your leader. While you may believe you are a leader in your own terms, everyone has a boss - including yourself. Great followers accept and embrace this fact.
2. They are obedient. Obedience seems politically incorrect but it is essential for organization's effectiveness. You can't give order if you can't obey them yourself. You must be willing and able to do what you ask your followers to do. That is how great leaders model their standards.
3. They are servants. Great followers are observant. They know what needs to be done and always help the leader accomplish his or her goals. They do it joyfully without complaints
4. They are humble. Great followers know that it's not about them. They shine the light on the leader. They assure their boss looks good, especially in front of his or her boss.
5. They are loyal. Great followers never speak ill of their boss in public. This does not mean you can't disagree or criticize. It simply means you don't do it in public. Great followers understand that public loyalty leads to private influence.

As followers, we can have great influence when we give kindness and respect to our leaders. If you want to be a great leader someday, ask yourself, "How can I be a better follower?" or "How can I make my boss more successful?"