Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Victorious Living

Home
Family, Parenting and Religion
Who Are You Willing To Follow?

Who Are You Willing To Follow?

Last updated on: October 2, 2019 at 5:00 am by Victorious Living

Who Are You Willing To Follow? 2019-09-07T22:37:33-04:00 Victorious Living

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

We are all trying to lead. We want to be the boss. The one in charge. We want to call the shots and have others do our bidding. We want to be the captain steering the ship, the General giving the orders.

Each of us has charge over exactly one person on this planet – ourselves. And it stands to reason that if we are responsible for that one person, we should want that one person to succeed in every way. Fame. Fortune. Power. We want it all for our one person. We want control. We want…deity.

All of this causes quite a quandary. Because a) there are billions of others trying to do exactly the same thing as we are and b) life is bigger and more complex and more true than any one human could hope to embody or contain.

Leaders Who Follow

The result of this chaos is, much against a part of our will, we are forced to follow something. Or someone. We have to trust something when our own capacity fails. When we reach our limits, there is something external we must commit ourselves to.

The question about what we follow is perhaps more important than what we will do when we lead. Perhaps they are two ways of asking the same thing.

We waste so much time trying to accumulate power we don’t even know what to do with. We try to get people to follow us because we believe leadership is some marker for or indication of success.

Case and point. We end up following what we believe will a) get us closer to the money and fame we desire and b) we will be able to usurp when the time is right.

Following Values

We follow what matters to us. No matter what false humility we claim, we follow what we believe is in our best interest. What matters to us most.

The healthiest people realize that there is some letting go, some sacrifice of the ego, that is actually better for us than the vice grips we put on our own agenda. There is a weird sort of meaning in purpose that brings more life as we let go of more of it. Simplicity. Community. These are ideas that seem to be uninteresting for our self-interest and then totally against it. The truth is they are neither. And both.

And the more we tap into the true why behind our values, the more we discover this dichotomy to be true.

We use a lot of terms for it – values, purpose, mission. The truth is this is what matters to us. It is what we long to follow. To chase. To pursue. We will follow the people and the institutions that promote our values.

If we have a true perspective, we will be able to discern the people and the institutions that really promote our values and the ones who just pretend to. It is a tricky and subtle difference. But we will find it if we are looking for it. Even within our own hearts, there is the difference.

Take a break from chasing leadership. From trying so hard to be the one in control. Ask yourself how to be an effective follower (which is the first step to leading well) and exactly what it is you are willing to follow.

Previous Post

September 30, 2019

How to Heal Together Rather Than Break Apart

Next Post

October 4, 2019 We Can Fix This

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Choices Conflict Resolution Culture Change Emotions Failure Faith Fear Freedom V Growth Healthy Communication Hope Identity Influence Leadership Learn Mistakes Mood Curve Ownership Perspective Power Relationships Self-Awareness Self-Governance Systems Thinking Three Things You Control Transformational Leadership Trust Truth Uncategorized Values Vision

Select a Month January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

I built a great temple with cedar and gold, using 70,000 carriers and 80,000 stonecutters. Who am I?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Hiram Zerubbabel David Solomon

Books by This Author Books by Victorious Living

See All Titles »