All true leaders understand this simple fact of life: Leaders who hold and maintain leadership roles and positions do so only because their followers permit or allow them to hold those prized positions. In other words, leaders lead because their followers believe in them, believe in their abilities, and believe in their dreams and the direction in which the leader is leading them!

If and/or when the followers (for any reason) cease believing in the leader’s abilities, purpose, methods, or direction,…the existing leader will be forced to change or he will quickly be replaced with a new and different leader. Leaders have to lead,…not push. Followers will only follow leaders (1) who know who they, (2) who know where they are going, and (3) who know how they are going to get there. If one or more of any of those three “foundational legs” of a real leader weakens, breaks, or crumbles and no longer exists, then the leader will be replaced….whether he wants to be replaced or not.

Leadership can be and usually is a very lonely place. The leader has to separate himself from the followers because he occupies and elevated position from that of the follower. He is not necessarily “better” than his followers, he just must separate himself to establish the fact the he is The Leader….not just one of the “boys” or “girls” of the group.

A common mistake that I have witnessed many times over the many years of owning and operating my own business, working for a Big 8 national accounting firm, and in the military armed service is that all too many leaders, particularly those who have been leaders of very large organizations or at the same position for a very long period of time, is that those leaders sadly begin to view themselves as better, wiser, more knowledgeable, more capable, and more qualified to lead and decide than are those who follow them. A wise man once told me, “never underestimate the intelligence of those who follow you.” He went on to say that, “the moment you, as a leader, are perceived as a person who knows everything and the followers know nothing, your leadership position will be terminated….and you did it to yourself!”

Look…don’t not over-intellectualize what I just told you. Good leaders lead by example,…not by demanding, bossing, or authoritative ways and means. Great leaders bring different numbers, types, and categories of people together as “group participants” and make them feel that they are a vitally important part of the whole organization, and that they greatly contribute to the purpose, mission, and goals of the entire organization. They always make everyone feel and understand that they are a very real and active part of the group.

Great leaders never alienate anyone within the organization who desires to stay part of the organization.

Great leaders never spit on their sub leaders, never judge other participants of the organization, and they readily give great and glorious praise and approbation to all those who have achieved the highest levels of achievement within the group…No exceptions.

Considering all that great leaders do,…let’s now look at the things, the attributes, such men and women need to possess and exhibit in their own lives that qualify them to be true leaders of people.

There are four planks in the platform of a real leader of other people. These four foundational building blocks are the planks that must all fit together to allow, develop, and sustain good, growing, and thriving personal relationships by and between the members of the entire organization. These characteristics are:

1. Physical
2. Mental
3. Spiritual
4. Emotional

All four needed attributes need to be in place and properly functioning if there is to be a healthy, productive, and well thriving organization. The Leader of the organization has the inherent responsibility to insure that there are programs, support, and encouragement systems in place, available to all members of the organization, and properly operating if the planks of the platform are to be achieved and maintained.

Now if it is true,…and it is,…that the best way to lead is by example,… then the leader, whoever he or she may be, MUST be actively involved and participating in all the growth activities of the organization if he plans to continue to be in a leadership position. There is no such thing as absentee leadership. “Absentee leader” is another name for “follower.”

Now I realize that there will be those among you readers and listeners who disagree with my statements, either mildly or violently, but I will tell you the truth…those who are existing leaders and who still disagree with my statements, are already “on-the-bubble” they just don’t “get it”…yet. Oh, don’t worry,…one day, and most probably sooner than later, they will find out that I am speaking the truth. When that day arrives, don’t act dismayed or bewildered. Leaders gotta lead and when they don’t lead properly,…they get replaced! If you still disagree with me, permit me to suggest that you spend more time studying history….Bad leaders, for whatever reason, always get replaced!

Good leaders are listeners. They always show the respect for their followers by hearing them out. Even if they disagree with them.

Good leaders are learners. They are always learning more and sharing what they are learning with their sub leaders and the organization.

Good leaders are actually and always doing the very things that they are teaching and are telling their followers to do. In other words, they are active participants….not uninvolved dictators!

Please listen carefully. This is especially true for organizations consisting of volunteers. Growing and thriving organizations must always be grooming and equipping the sub leaders to rise higher and be completely ready to takeover the next highest leadership responsibility. All of the leaders and sub leaders of the entire organization should know who these “rising sub leaders” are. They should also know what positions they are being prepared to assume when the right time comes.

Great followers, i.e. the ones who are being developed to become the future leaders who qualify to rise higher in the organization, need to know what their existing and future roles are going to be. If these men or women do not know where they are going or how they are going to get there,…they will all one day disappear…they will leave and go to some other organization where they do know for certain where their expended time and effort will take them. Although it is true that success is a journey, not a destination, it is also just as true that if there is no target, no final destination, the greatest participants will go find a new or better game in which to participate. Without a scoreboard, a target,….a winner cannot be identified, recognized, and rewarded. Hence he will go to where he can be.

Love, Loyalty, Unity, Harmony, Productivity are the things within an organization which all flow together to cause Growth. Never forget that Growth is Happiness and that Happiness and Peace of Mind is what Success is all about.

Unity is one of the three greatest powers on earth for all human beings.

Let’s all grow old gracefully together in peace and harmony. The torch of leadership must always be passed on to the upcoming leaders of the future. No man can be a FATHER forever. At some point in time he has to become a GRANDFATHER. Whatever or whenever that point is, its attendant activity and responsibility role must also change commensurately.

One final point…In order for real success to ever occur in any organization of people,…a successor must be identified, known, and properly prepared to take over the leadership role of the future.

Don’t keep their identity a secret. If you have one identified, then publicly identify them, praise them, and give them added responsibilities and recognition. Why?…Because the newest members of the organization…the life blood of the future,…needs to know who they are and where they are going.

If you want to succeed, then simply and freely do for others what has been freely done for you!

When you can live together,
When you can work together,
When you can laugh and cry together,
When you think like one another, and live righteously together, When you can rejoice and suffer together,

and,

When you can worship together,……….then certainly…. YOU ARE ONE….WITH ONE ANOTHER.
YOU ARE IN COMPLETE HARMONY AND UNITY WITH ONE ANOTHER…

And everyone wins!

Leaders Gotta Lead……………..