Leaders and Followers

Imagine what would have happened if Martin Luther King Jr. had been the only one to show up to his march on Washington—absolutely nothing. How about if Martin Luther King Jr. hadn’t started preaching to begin with? It’s impossible to tell for sure, but I imagine that the United States would be much more divided today without his peaceful and unifying influence.

What might have happened if George Washington had been the only person to defy the British? George probably would have been hanged and his mark on history would have been, at best, a single sentence in a British textbook. Now think through the flip side. What would have happened to the United States if George had died before the American Revolution began? My guess is that even if the Americans won the war for independence, the new country would have fallen apart within a couple of decades.

Almost every major endeavor in all of history has required two things. First, the dedication, ideas, and sacrifice of leaders, and second the efforts of hundreds, thousands, or even millions of people. Both roles are crucial to long-term success. Leaders without followers are powerless, and followers without leaders are aimless. When they work together though, they can change the world. If we really want to make a difference, we have to learn that lesson as well. We may come up with the best solutions to every single problem, but if we’re alone, we’re powerless. Those solutions are useless unless they are adopted and replicated by a lot of people first.

Not every person needs to be a leader and not every person needs to be a follower. Both are needed and across different situations, people often fill both roles. The person who is a follower in joining an organization can be a leader by inviting others to come along and help. The world works best when everyone chooses to engage as one or the other and is willing to switch depending on the situation.

So, now let’s look at this using homelessness as an example. If you care deeply about solving homelessness in your community then you might start by doing some research. You’ll start looking around to see if any people or organizations in your area are already working on the problem. If you find a person or organization that’s already leading the charge, then your next step will be to reach out and get involved. Your input will increase the effectiveness of that person or organization.

If you search and find instead that nobody else is working on homelessness in your area, then you have the opportunity to start the effort yourself and play the role of a leader. In that role, you will start researching solutions instead and you will come across examples of organizations like Community Solutions that have already helped multiple cities around the United States, such as Abilene Texas and Rockford Illinois, reach functional zero. So you might reach out or start replicating their efforts in your community. In that case, you will be a leader in your area but also a follower in that you are replicating another organization’s efforts. That’s fantastic! There’s no reason to reinvent the wheel when someone else has already put in the effort and proven that their system will work.

Regardless of what problem you want to solve in the world or your community, there’s room to get involved right now. You may serve as either a leader, a follower, or both, but you will only make a real difference when you put in effort and work with others who are willing to do the same. 

Key takeaways

• Nobody changes the world without help

• Both Leaders and followers are necessary

• You may need to serve as one or more to make a difference