Leader the Follow

So, you have your Big Hair Audacious Goal - that goal that God has placed on your heart and that you cannot quench. The next question is: “Should I lead or should I follow?”

There is a lot written on leadership. Most leadership materials focus on how to lead people toward making a change. What many of these books don’t mention is that you don’t have to be the one to lead the whole group. Instead, you can lead by following.

As you identify your BHAG, spend some time to learn what others are doing in the same area. There may be someone already leading that you can join. Just because you are following doesn’t mean you can’t lead. Being a leader means that you are willing to focus on the BHAG before yourself. Sometimes giving up large-scale leadership and focusing on small-scale leadership in the short term yields better results than trying to do it all yourself.

Do some research in your local community and online. Find out what kind of options exist for pairing up with others that have a similar goal. Consider leading by following.

Here are three places you can use to research find others doing the same thing:

1. Google Blog Search - find out what others are talking about, including things they are doing and related events
2. ROOV - ROOV connects like-minded individuals based on communities and personal goals. They recently added Facebook support, so you can easily get connected with others and spread the word to those you know
3. Changing the Present - Changing the Present helps you find non-profit causes and allows you and others to support them in a variety of ways

Know of another way to find other leaders with the same cause? Post about it in the comments!

No matter what your BHAG, it is time to lead. Lead by leading others. Lead by following. No matter what, choose to change things by leading.