As Jesus went on from there. He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me!” So he got up and followed Him. Matthew 9:9
Following is leadership and leadership is following. You can’t have one without the other. Jesus challenges us to follow him just like he did with Matthew. Notice Jesus didn’t say, “Do you want to follow me?”. He said, “Follow Me!”. This was not a question but a statement. Matthew got up and followed him. May I suggest that when we are following Jesus, we are leading. We are leading simply by following Jesus Christ.
I’ve been particularly interested in leadership recently. Over the last few years, many speakers and teachers are talking about leadership. Andy Stanley has a Leadership Podcast titled, Simply Lead. Andy tells us to “keep leadership simple” and as your organization is growing, it typically grows with complexity and that is an unavoidable reality. Our approach to leadership should not be complex because our clarity in leading is vital to the growth. Andy tells us to ask three simple questions as we consider the vision or mission of our organization.
“What are we doing?” Asking yourself the vision or mission statement of your organization should bring clarity in answering this question. Does this new idea or project follow our vision for the organization? When everyone asks this same question, your team is united in moving forward.
“Why are we doing it?” This is where we find inspiration and clears up what’s at stake if we don’t do it. This goes beyond money and finds us considering how we can make the world a better place. What would be lacking in our country or community if we went away. This is a question all organizations can ask themselves. The leader has to ask him/herself why am I doing this. The “why am I doing this” helps us to see our personal and corporate passion. “Why” has the power to get us through the tough times and is the reason we don’t quit.
“Where do I fit in?” What is my critical role as a leader and what is my unique contribution. What is my core responsibility and am I doing what only I can do? Am I in my sweet spot as a leader. These questions helps us to re-center ourselves. We are at our best when we are doing what we do best and our organization is at it’s best when everybody is doing what they do best.
Andy suggests a one sentence responsibility description for your employees. If all else fails, this is the one thing that is expected from a particular person. That way, with everything else going on in a busy workplace, this helps the employee keep focus and answer the question as to “where do I fit in?”. This helps streamline an organization as the organization becomes more complex.
I love these three simple questions and how they are helping me to stay focused in practical ways in all areas of my life. I hope I’m a better leader which ultimately makes me a better follower. And since we are all following someone, I hope and pray you choose to follow Jesus. He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).
Kim A. Thomas 