by Charles Barnard
In my Success Institute’s mindset of a champion arch, one of the two pillars holding up the arch is the pillar of faithfulness. It, like its foundation of love, has some important characteristics that should be trained. It bears repeating that training these character traits is a life-long process. One has never fully mastered them or completely engrained them, but truly great leaders, truly great champions, will strive to master these traits over the course of their life.
The first of these character traits of faithfulness is being both a leader and a follower. Great leaders exhibit characteristics that cause others to follow. What is it about someone that commands, by their very persona, a following?
There are those who have people who follow them and may even wield significant power and influence over others who would not exhibit leadership qualities one should emulate. Gangsters, mob bosses, dictators, or tyrants in general would be such examples. They use fear and a warped understanding of loyalty to achieve their leadership power. This “style” of leadership is deeply flawed and leads to ruin. The dust bin of history is filled with such “leaders” who died gruesome, lonely, deaths, with few who mourned their passing.
As previously written, the character traits of a love mindset are crucial to be a truly great leader. Then there is this idea of knowing when and how to lead and when and how to follow. Knowledge, wisdom, and truth are certainly invaluable for a leader being able to make rational decisions on when to lead and when to follow, but being a leader and a follower is much deeper. At its core is the idea of following your moral compass. Integrity is a hallmark of great leadership. A principled decision maker will earn the respect even of those who disagree with them.
My grandfather was an executive with A & P who had the responsibility of negotiating with the teamsters union. I have a recording of my grandfather’s retirement dinner. It was the teamsters who honored him. My grandfather had enough integrity that even those on the opposite side whom he had to negotiate with respected the man and his leadership. Great leadership requires following your principles.
One of, the greatest leaders in American History and arguably world history, was George Washington. Integrity was one of his hallmarks. He followed his principles. Great leaders like Washington are not without flaws. They are not morally perfect. They are products of their times, but their greatness comes with a mindset that enables them to live a life where following their principles is a sincere goal in their life and these principles in general were built from love and faith, the other pillar that supports the mindset of a champion.
Great leaders also know when to hand leadership over to someone better suited for a particular task. They know when and how to delegate leadership roles. They exhibit a willingness to follow the leadership of the ones they entrust in their various roles. Navy SEALS often exhibit this aspect of following on missions where a commander will delegate and follow members of their team who have specialized skill sets that they need to utilize and trust. They know when to turn that leadership over.
The ultimate role model for being a leader and a follower may well be the life of Christ. He led a peaceful revolution that changed the world and is still leading men and women around the globe. He followed his moral compass and the commands of the one who sent him unto his death. He challenged the ruling elite of his day and the customs and laws of the day, when they violated his moral code. He did this unto his death. He entrusted his disciples to carry on his work, his mission. He was the ultimate leader and follower.