A common leadership failure is a leader’s unwillingness to clearly communicate to followers that they are both wanted and needed. Maintaining long term followers is difficult if leadership refuses to create the environment for communicating this concept.
An admission that followers are needed reveals a leader’s vulnerability. Flattery is a mask used to deflect words like “want”, and criticism is a weapon used to arrest the use of the word “need”. Many leaders see their role as a power play rather than an empowering one. A leader’s enlarged ego causes him to believe his followers are privileged to have him as a leader. The reality is he should see himself as privileged and honored to lead those followers. In the business world for example, an entire industry has developed dedicated solely to providing temporary workers to fill important roles for companies. Utilizing this service enables a leader, hiding under the justification of lower employment costs, to accomplish his goals while avoiding any sense of commitment to or real communication with his followers. Some full-time employees are often treated like temps to cover the leader’s lack of respect, inclusion, and inability to provide the clarity and service they need. Great leaders empower their followers by serving them. Mark 10:42-45
