OBEDIENCE | For the sake of conversation, I share this concept of followership as obedience or submission. This captures both the leadership and the followership of Jesus. Jesus said that the core of his mission was “to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” (John 4:34, NIV). In his priestly prayer, Jesus acknowledged that “I have brought you glory on earth by doing the work you gave me to do” (John 17:4). Jesus’ authority and leadership rest on his obedience to the Father1and his significance as a leader comes from this relationship to God2. If Jesus’ leadership arises from this significance of his being a follower, then divine obedience is the core of significant followership and a crucial component of the leadership process. Notably, Paul speaks of submission to others as a means of advancing the gospel in multiple contexts: political authorities (Romans 13:1,5; Heb. 13:17; 1 Pet. 2:13), fellow workers (1 Cor. 16:16), spouses (Eph. 5:21-24; Col. 3:18-19), to masters (as slaves; 1 Peter 2:18; ), to those who are older (1 Peter 5:5), and to God (Heb 12:9; James 4:7).
On a contemporary note, such submission (followership) is essential to the kind of fruitful and godly relationships that are the heart and soul of complex, adaptive organizations3. The picture of the church in Acts 2 is that of such an organization.
Read this past post for more on obedience and leadership.
BAD FOLLOWERS | Bad followers lead to bad leaders. Followers are complicit in the rise of bad leadership4. When followers abdicate their responsibility and mindlessly obey, they uncritically accept poor and often wrong behavior from leaders who are thus allowed to abuse their power5. Character flaws such as “apathy, passivity, cynicism, and habits of spectator-like involvement”6 further compound the collective dysfunction of organizations thus enabling still more bad leadership. Perhaps, as suggested by the stories of the public scandals of recent years, bad leadership emerges when followers seek self-preservation, personal security and comfort, or certainty and safety at the expense of justice, opportunity, or moral character.
These two thoughts above link together in a vitally pragmatic way. Followers who actively walk in full obedience to God are able to a) be exemplary and effective followers who fully support and hold leaders accountable, and b) be themselves used as effective leaders of others.
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1 Allen, D. (1998). Jesus as Lord, Jesus as servant. The Christian Century, 115(9), 295.
2 Shaw, P. (2006). Vulnerable authority: A theological approach to leadership and teamwork. Christian Education Journal: Series 3, 3(1).
3 Cilliers, P. (2000). What can we learn from a theory of complexity? Emergence, 2(1), 23-33.
4 Allio, R. (2007). Bad leaders: how they get that way and what to do about them.Strategy & Leadership, 35(3), 12-17.
5 Lundin, S. & Lancaster, L. (1990). Beyond leadership…The importance of followership.The Futurist, May-June, 18-22.
6 Lundin & Lancaster, p. 21.
