FollowtheLeader.indd

FOLLOW THE LEADER

still largely dependent and a drag on the global economy. Their regimes
and “governments” are characterized by incompetence, egoism, cronyism,
tribalism, caste systems, bureaucracy, bribery, red-tape, blame-shifting,
scape-goating, irresponsibility. Their national treasuries are treated
like personal bank accounts. Their economies are in shambles, and their
people are living in grinding poverty. There are many countries in our
global community who are literally dying for a lack of good leaders – and
ones who will surround themselves by good managers! As a result, the
gap continues to widen in the world between the haves and have-nots. Now
the so-called “digital divide” is widening this gap even further – leaving
more and more millions of people on the outside looking in.

From the above quotes, it is easy to see that there is an important
difference between leaders and managers. Both are necessary in any
ministry or movement. One is not more important than the other. It is
not a matter of either/or – but rather both/and. Neither is it a matter of
one being better than the other. The issue is difference – difference in gifts...
talents...calling... perspective ...focus. Effective leaders clearly understand the
difference between themselves and managers. They well know that they
need good managers surrounding them to enable them to reach their
goals and fulfill their vision. While the leader determines the direction of
an organization – the managers take care of the details. There is a cute
little poem that describes how important little details can be. It tells how
the destiny of a whole nation was changed because of the lack of one
small horseshoe nail:

For lack of a nail the shoe was lost;

For lack of a shoe the horse was lost;

For lack of a horse the rider was lost;

For lack of a rider the battle was lost;

For lack of the battle the war was lost;

For lack of the war the nation was lost!

A poor job by some blacksmith changed the entire destiny of a nation!
A wise leader must either “have an eye for details” or surround himself
with partners who have that perspective! Leaders often need to have
the input and council of people who are administrators, bookkeepers,
lawyers, accountants, comptrollers, etc. These are people who have both
a natural inclination and professional training that orients them to be
“detail-oriented people” – whether in legal matters...money matters ...