Followerfirst

Posted By Rusty Ricketson on May 5, 2012

C.S. Lewis writes that our worldviews are much like looking through a pane of glass into the world beyond. When describing the world, rarely do we take the time to investigate whether or not the slight flaws and discolorations in the glass are skewing our view. In other words, we don’t concentrate on the glass, just what is  beyond it. Yet the importance of realizing bias and prejudice through which we often view the world is of vital importance in personal relationships. This fact leads us to need to be aware of our bias when thinking of leadership. Leadership is, after all, a process of intentional, interdependent, dynamic, reciprocal relationships between those who hold the role of leader and those who hold the role of follower.

If we interpret organizational relationships solely from the leader’s perpective, we can often forget the important role followers play in the leadership process.  The same can be said for an over emphasis on follower roles. However, the latter is not much of a worry in our leader-crazed society and culture.

Still,  as I speak of the Followerfirst philosophy to groups I am encouraged as men and women begin thinking from a different perspective. They are able to see the bias of the literature and the bias of their own minds and begin to come to different conclusions about how leader/follower relationships should be conducted. There is something that resonates in the mind and heart of a follower of Christ with the idea of living life as primarily a follower regardless of the role one has within an organization.

Now, after only two years, by the grace of God, the  Followerfirst movement begins to grow and gain a life of its own.

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Posted By Rusty Ricketson on April 2, 2012

I am reminded during Palm Sunday of the historical accounts of the masses of people clamoring around Jesus. These people shouted praise to God that the Messiah had come in the form of this carpenter from Nazareth. They quoted Scripture, “blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” They fully expected Jesus to bring about their preconceived ideas of what the Messiah would do; defeat the occupying armies and restore the nation of Israel.

Two thousand years later we know that this was not to be. Jesus’ kingdom was not of this world but the people would not listen. They would rather believe that He was the one. Jesus would fulfill all their expectations. He was the one to lead them to victory, success, independence, prosperity….. and the list goes on.

These expectations may have been a major factor in many of these same people shouting “crucify Him!” just a few days later. People get frustrated and angry when their dreams and expectations are not fulfilled. It seems to be fallen human nature to place our expectations and hopes in a person and when that person lets us down, to express our anger and disappointment by saying in the immortal words of Donald Trump. “You’re Fired!”

The faulty expectations of the people resulted from a faulty reading of Scripture and the faulty application of biblical truth to their current context. The people looked for a leader. God sent a follower. They looked for innovation. Jesus showed them obedience. The people did not get their way. Jesus lived His life according to God’s way.

It was God’s will that Jesus give His life a ransom for many. In order to do this, Jesus intentionally acted against the expectations of the people around Him and even His closest followers. And so it will be for those who seek to lead others to follow Jesus. Sometimes the faithful follower of Christ will have to act contrary to the expectations of others: “You’re supposed to do this, you’re the pastor.”  “What do you mean we are not going to do this, I thought you were a Christian.”

Painful? Yes. Emotionally draining? Definitely. But such is the life of the follower who seeks to fulfill the expectation of ONE. As we influence others we hear the cry of our Leader, “Not my will but Thine be done.”

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Posted By Rusty Ricketson on February 4, 2012

Last week, President Obama presented a rational for his positions on his political policy by citing several sayings of the Lord Jesus Christ. The most pronounced quotation used by the President was the oft quoted, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” The President continued: “But for me as a Christian, it also coincides with Jesus’ teaching that “for unto whom much is given, much shall be required.” It mirrors the Islamic belief that those who’ve been blessed have an obligation to use those blessings to help others, or the Jewish doctrine of moderation and consideration for others.”

With this biblical validation, President Obama proceeded to explain why it was imperative for the people of the United States to do what they could for our fellow citizens when he posited that, “now, we can earnestly seek to see these values lived out in our politics and our policies, and we can earnestly disagree on the best way to achieve these values.”

There is no debate regarding whether we should or should not help the poor and all whom we would call our neighbor. However, the President misses an important aspect imbedded within the commands of Jesus. When Jesus commands His followers and all peoples to “love thy neighbor,” He does so knowing that each person has the freedom of conscience to either obey or disobey. God is glorified and honored when His people respond with willing hearts to obey and from their own resources freely give to others. In Acts 2 where the new believers were willingly giving of all they had to those who had need, the point is that they WILLINGLY gave from what each possessed. There was no coercion on the part of any religious order or government.

President Obama fails to see that using the tax code to coerce people into paying more taxes in order for the government to be in a better position to care for the poor short circuits the moral decision that the command of Christ requires. If, under penalty of law, the government commands me to give in order to help my neighbor, freedom of conscience and freedom of personal responsibility are lost. True love, true charity cannot be coerced. It must be a free decision.

The President’s comments have clarified for me some confusion I have had with regard to why more liberal politicians, when their tax forms are open to the public, seem to give substantially less amounts of money to churches and charities than their more conservative counterparts. It is now clear that the President and others who think as he does, consider the government to be the primary arm of help to the poor, not the church. In this line of thinking the government usurps the role of church and gifts (taxes) to the government are viewed similarly as offerings to a church or charity. The idea seems to be that when I pay my taxes I am giving to the poor. As a result, the President can say without any qualm that all of us need to ‘give’ a little more.

I personally  don’t have a problem with the idea of those who have been blessed with resources giving to those in need. My problem is that to use the Federal Tax Code as the chief instrument of collecting this “charity” violates the freedom of every individual taxpayer. The President and all future Presidents have the opportunity to lead in this issue by giving freely through churches and charities and encouraging everyone to do the same. But to use the power of the presidency to create a tax code that coerces others to ‘give’ is not leadership. It is a camouflaged form of power and control.

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Posted By Rusty Ricketson on November 23, 2011

It is no surprise to anyone that the super committee charged with coming up with a solution to the deficit crisis could not come to consensus on how to approach the problem. It is easy enough to see that both sides in the argument are firmly committed to principles and values that prohibit them from compromising in all but surface areas.

In reality, I’m not certain we want our politicians compromising on core values and positions of conscience. These are areas that should be held fast. Both parties realize this because to compromise on basic values is to lose the support of those who elected them to this position of decision making.

Rather than developing special committees to attempt to circumvent the responsibility of both houses of Congress, we, the voters should prepare for the next election and support those candidates who most closely hold to our positions and values. Yes, we should expect some compromise on small issues. but we should applaud both sides for ‘following’ their core on this decision. The solution is through the ballot box.

Yet again, the point is made that you have to know what your leader follows (ie, what your leader values) before making a decision to follow (vote for) that leader.

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Posted By Rusty Ricketson on August 20, 2011

My car is leaking coolant. I suppose that with weeks of 90+ degrees and no rain it was about time that the 203,000 miles she has acquired would have an impact. So I’m left traveling about one hour down the road, or about 60 miles and then pull over to refill the coolant. If this procedure is not followed, I’m certain to have baked Camry on the side of the road.

Although I like different kinds of dishes, baked Camry is not one of them. I’ve been told that I have a leak in my header gasket. I really hate it when that happens, especially since I wouldn’t know a header gasket from a picnic basket. I’m told that repairs could run anywhere from1,500 to 2,000 dollars. I have to tell you, that would be some expensive running, especially for a car that has traveled an approximate distance of 8 times around the equator.

What to do? And what does this have to do with following? I’m not sure I know the answer to either of those questions. I will leave it to those of you who read this to make whatever analogies you wish regarding the meaning of such events. For now, all I know is I’m following what my car requires of me in order to run and get me where I want to go. Hey, wait a minute, that may just have application to followers giving what leaders need, especially when they may have a few miles and running on empty, so that they can lead where we all want to go. Just a thought.

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Posted By Rusty Ricketson on July 16, 2011

In “The Truth About Leadership,” James Kouzes and Barry Posner point out that leading others is a ‘learned’ skill that anyone can master IF that person is willing to take the time and pay the price to learn these skills through various means (instruction, coaching, failure, opportunity, etc.). In making their point, these authors point to the work place as the number one laboratory for learning and applying leader skills. However, one main precondition is that the work place needs to filled with ’supportive colleagues.’ They continue, “Supportive colleagues at work are critical. Leadership can’t grow in a culture that isn’t supportive of continuing development” (p, 131).

It is here that followers can influence those who lead. We can provide the support, encouragement, and willingness to allow for mistakes and failure from our leaders in order to form them into better leaders. Having a positive, supportive attitude coupled with supportive actions, are ways that followers can play a crucial role in the development of leaders. Who, after all, is going to be able to identify the shortcomings of leaders more than those who are serving with the leader.

Followers have the opportunity to learn how to teach leaders to become better at the reciprocal relational skills that are the essence of leading. Our leaders can only intellectually learn from books and seminars. They will need US if they are to become good leaders of others. We need to be their ’supportive colleagues.’ We need to be FOR them.

As the Bible says in Philippians, we need to “look out for the needs of others.” Our leaders have needs. They need strong, supportive, encouraging followers or they will never learn.

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Posted By Rusty Ricketson on May 12, 2011

I was reminded the other day when buying an airline ticket just how much following there is in the world. In order to purchase the ticket I had to follow a system of prompts that led me to another system of prompts that led me to…. You get the idea. Finally I had my ticket. Printed it out and was informed in the fine print that when I arrived at the airport there were even more instructions I had to follow. The catch is that if I choose not to follow, I won’t make my flight because the airlines have protocols they have established ( or have been established for them) that they have to follow.

So, I guess when I catch my flight I will get in my car, follow the procedures to get it started and in gear, follow the road and the signs that direct me to the airport, make sure I follow the security protocols, follow the boarding instructions at the gate, follow the safety procedures from the stewardess video, choose whether I want pretzels or peanuts, and let the pilot follow the flight plan to the destination. From there I will follow the disembarking procedures…….

And the wonder of all of this is that I get to choose whether I will follow or not.

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Posted By Rusty Ricketson on May 2, 2011

There is a term being used in academic and practitioner circles about the roles of those who are not leaders. That term is “followership.” I realize that this is an attempt to codify a list of characteristics of those who follow leaders. However, just as in the case of ‘leadership’ the term robs the process of its dynamism.

When you codify anything as a ’ship’ or ‘ism’ you essentially drain the life out of it and make it a stagnant, lifeless ‘thing’ that you can grasp, handle, observe, and agree or disagree with. When we develop our terms and our lists and our characteristics of whatever ’ship’ or ‘ism’ we are explaining we can tell others the rightness or wrongness of what is taking place.

However, if we let leading and following be the dynamic terms and processes they are, we may have less certainty but I believe we will have more LIFE in the process.

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Posted By Rusty Ricketson on March 28, 2011

Whether it is a person or an idea or an ideal, everyone is following something. Our goals and dreams and aspirations reflect a little of the core values that make up our persons. Our life journeys are not simply wanderings in the wilderness of indecision. We make choices and our choices move us toward our objectives and ideals.  Wrong choices do not necessarily have to be fatal to our goals and dreams because many times we have opportunity to make another choice to get us back on track. Still, the wise choice is the choice that moves us toward our goals and ideals as we follow them. Our choices reflect who and what we follow. What are you choosing to follow today?

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Posted By Rusty Ricketson on January 11, 2011

As many of you know, we in Georgia are experiencing quite a winter snow/ice storm. Today I had to get to school and was traveling about 45 miles per hours down one of our 4 lane roads. The only open lanes were those on the right. The other two were choked with ice, snow, and slush and you could tell that few people had tried to navigate them.

I chose to stay to the right and follow the ruts of those who had gone before me. As I was traveling along I noticed ahead that the lane I was in was deteriorating into the previously described ice patch and decided to move from the center right lane over to the last lane on the right. I had to let a car pass and by that time found myself riding through the slush, noticing an increasing loss of traction and control. Having had a little experience in these conditions, I simply lifted my foot off the accelerator and gently guided the vehicle to the right. After a few slips the car made its way over into the clear right lane and I proceeded on.

The person following me was not so fortunate. I looked into my rear view mirror in time to see the car hit the same ice patch I had just navigated, begin to slide sideways, and eventually stopped facing the wrong way in the middle of the 4 lane highway. The driver quickly made a 180 degree turn and headed in the right direction. Unfortunately, the car following him was forced into the uncleared lanes and slush flew everywhere. There was no accident. The two vehicles went their ways but I’m certain the car that had to make the avoiding maneuver might have had a few choice words for the wrong-way vehicle.

All that to say this. Its important when we are following to make certain the following is not simply external but internal. The person following me on the road had the physical presence of following, but did not have the internal presence to know how to respond in a certain condition. It might have been that instead of remaining calm, when faced with the ice, the person stepped on the brakes, causing the skid.

This is what we need to be aware of when leading others. Just because our followers show up at their desks everyday does not mean that they have the internal awareness of how important they are to the organization. Time, attention, and instruction allow us to make certain that when they hit an slick spot in the organization, they will know how to externally as well as internally. Such an investment of time will also go a long way to avoiding possible collisions and subsequent backups within the organization.

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