Q: How do I know if I’m a leader?
A: Look behind you.
That’s the best way I know of to determine whether or not you are a leader. The world and the church talk about leadership all the time. We have books, conferences, theories…you name it. I probably have a tendency to simplify things way too much, but if you ask me the real test of a leader is simply to look behind them and see if anyone is back there.
So if you thought you were a leader…and you looked back and so nobody…you better re-evaluate what you are doing to lead people…because it ain’t working. So that kind of brings us to the next question. How do we evaluate our effectiveness as a leader? How do I know if I’m a good leader? How do I know if I’m successfull?
You have already covered the number one thing, you’ve determined that there our indeed people behind you. Now you have a great responsibility. If you are leading you better be leading in the right direction. In terms of effectiveness that’s probably the next thing we better wrestle with…where are we leading these people who are following us? You might be inclined to think that the next question to ask to determine your level of success would be, “how many people are back there?” But, my experience tells me that the answer to this question can often be deceiving.
The reality is that it is a desire inside us all to be liked by others. We want to be appreciated, approved, and just plain loved. It’s easy to think that if there is a crowd behind us then we must be not only loved but successfull as a leader. That may not be the case though. What does it matter if we have gathered a crowd if none of the people in the crowd ever make a step forward? How close is the crowd following behind you? Are they following where you lead? Some of the most effective leaders only reach a few. But then their few reach a few…and those few reach a few.
Jesus actually had both. He had a crowd. Check out the time in Matthew 15:32-39 when he fed 4,000 men + women and children. And, he also had a few. Check out the disciples Simon Peter and Andrew in Matthew 4:18-20 how they left their lives and livelihood behind to follow Jesus. So why don’t you turn around and see who’s back there?
