Excellent leaders dictate the course of history. Leadership means influence. You are not a leader unless someone will follow you.
The best leaders have the ability to make other leaders into followers. To make other leaders into followers requires a stronger character, unwavering commitment, and deeper clarity in your vision. When leaders create followers, they are essentially getting the followers to buy into their vision.
I always walk away encouraged when I learn a new lesson given to us by the greatest and most effective leader in history – Jesus. He and His followers are still accomplishing remarkable things more than 2,000 years later. So my question is: Where did Jesus find such phenomenal leaders to follow Him? How did He get these men with such strong influence to buy into His vision? Well the encouraging truth is that He found them among the common people, living ordinary lives. Some of His followers were living rather controversial or questionable lives. Jesus was able to overlook the ordinary nature of these men and had the ability to change them into the most effective armies for good the world has ever known. Jesus and his disciples have changed the world more than any other King, leader, Prime Minister, or philosopher ever has.
Since Jesus walked the earth, those who have embraced even a small portion of His leadership principles have had a major impact in their times. Even if you do not believe that Jesus was the Son of God, there is more to be learned by the leadership principles He used than anyone who has ever lived. There simply was never a more effective leader and never anyone who made others into leaders like He did.
When you study the lives of Moses and Peter, you can’t help but notice their imperfect human nature. Jesus however used Moses and Peter to accomplish some of the most memorable acts recorded in Human history.
As leaders, let’s learn from Jesus by seeing the best in others – helping them to live for a greater purpose, and to call them forth in their destiny to achieve greatness.
When you do, you might just end up being one of those leaders that has leaders following you.
-CK