Jesus: Leader or Follower? By Heidi Jakoby

“Before you can lead, you must learn to follow.” (Dr. Woj, President Pratt Community College)Jesus was not only a leader but a follower. He was able to encourage people to do their best and to continue his teachings beyond his life. The last line of John21:1-19 is “Follow me” why would they continue to follow him? What did Jesus do? In Dr. Woj article he states, “Followership is an art in itself; it’s difficult to define, but it is essential in getting things accomplished. Followers get things done; leaders put them together to make something happen. Let’s examine followership more closely, for without that essential ingredient, success and progress are empty words. Follower is synonymous with disciple, partisan, supporter, advocate and pupil according to my Dictionary of Synonyms. Together, these words explain the characteristics and qualities of the art of successful followership.”

How was Jesus a follower? Are you a leader? Are you a follower? Are you able to flow from leader to follower and back?

If you choose to follow God how is your life different? Today I heard the story of James King the man who found the little girl Nadia lost in the swaps of FL. The headline reads “Nadia Bloom's Rescuer James King: God 'Led Me Directly to Her'”. What a powerful statement. On the interview I saw James said he was praying and God clearly guided him to Nadia. Was this a miracle or simply a disciple listening closely to what God was calling him to do? Check out the link to this story God led me to her . What do you think; was James just lucky? Was God involved? Four days alone and lost Nadia was found, hungry, dehydrated and with lots of bug bites. What a wonderful story of hope and possibilities.

The ability to listen, to communicate and to know when to lead and when to follow is part of our life’s journey. Leaders today need to be less autocratic and more inclusive of others in order to achieve their goals and the goals of the organization they are representing. Leadership today is about building understanding and fostering communication in order to come up with the best solutions to challenges. Do you agree or disagree? Have you noticed changes in the way individuals lead and follow? Have you noticed more people wanting to lead or wanting to follow? Leaders still take on the responsibility of success or failure, do people today avoid this responsibility or embrace it? Yes I know it depends on the individual and the situation but I was wondering if culturally things are changing.

When I first read the lesson for this blog I just kept coming back to the song “Life’s a Dance” by John Michel Montgomery. (video / lyrics ). The need to be flexible and to know that throughout life we grow and come to new understandings is life giving and forgiving. Please take a few minutes to listen to this beautiful song. Here are three versus as my closing thoughts.

Life’s a dance you learn as you go

Sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow

Don’t worry ‘bout what you don’t know

Life’s a dance you learn as you go



The longer I live the more I believe

You do have to give if you want to receive

There’s a time to listen, a time to talk

And you might have to crawl even after you walk



Had sure things blow up in my face

Seen a long shot win the race

Been knocked down by the slamming door

Picked myself up and came back for more



How are you dancing? How is your journey going?

Please share your thoughts and comments.

When do I follow? When do I lead? Do I just walk beside? By Heidi Jakoby

What do the Grammy’s, the continued Haiti relief efforts, many new commercials, all have in common? They are all focusing on being in relationship. Face to face friendships, fellowships, and communities, helping one another to achieve success, to help those in need and to sell products. Is the next big trend to connect with others in person???? What a radical idea.

As I listen to my friends and read face book and twitter updates are we all talking more about our in person contacts? About wanting to get together in person? I wonder how Skype has increase the face to face contact in our world. I know I see more of my brother now with skype even though we live over an hour apart. Is this the new face to face contact?

In this story from Luke 5: 1-11 (NIV)  Simon said he was not worthy to follow Jesus, but Jesus does not listen and the men follow Jesus. This story begins with a crowd wanting to learn from Jesus and then a few took on the challenge of following Jesus and learning from him. What were their qualifications? What were their skills? What was their training? They did not know at the time but their time with Jesus would be short and then they would need to lead. Why did they follow?

When is it time to follow and when is it time to lead? Many leadership resources talk about the importance of creating relationships and knowing when to lead and when to follow. As the former Director of Leadership Development at Rivier College one of the things I tried to instill in all students was in order to succeed you need other people. People who can help you achieve your goals and people whose goals you can help them achieve.

As I think about Jesus leadership style I believe he focused on getting to know people, knowing his audience and then responding to their needs and at times accompanying them on their journey. This brings me to my wedding invitation and one of my favorite quotes:

Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow.

Don't walk behind me, I may not lead.

Just walk beside me and be my friend.-- Albert Camus

What does this mean for you? For me it means all relationships are a give and take. Each person is given an opportunity to lead and to follow. A lot has been written about being a good leader but what makes a good follower? What makes a good partner? Is it trust, faith, compliance, conflict avoidance? What do you think?

I know for me to follow I need to trust the person I am following, I need to know that they respect me and that they want to hear my honest opinion. Most importantly for me I need to know they sincerely care about me and my life, my success. This week President Obama was in Nashua, NH having a town meeting. The town meeting format seems to be a new trend in politics. Why is the town meeting format so popular? I think it is because there is in person contact with the people. This is one way for political leaders to come face to face with the voters and allow the voters to ask questions. This is a different level of relationship and a different way of leading.

This Sunday after the Super Bowl a new show is premiering called Undercover Boss: “Each week a different executive will leave the comfort of their corner office for an undercover mission to examine the inner workings of their company. While working alongside their employees, they will see the effects their decisions have on others, where the problems lie within their organization and get an up-close look at both the good and the bad while discovering the unsung heroes who make their company run.” (for more information)  .

Why would an Executive want to do this? As a leader it is important to know what the people who are following you are experiencing. Would you do this if you were an executive?

Finally I invite you to listen to a song by the Grammy award nominated group Leeland, the song is called Follow You enjoy and let me know what you think. (lyrics, listen)

Please share your thoughts and comments.

If you are in the Nashua, NH area Thursday Feb 4th join us at Panera Bread on Amherst Street at 7 for some relationship building and conversation.