Leadership and Followership as a Subordinate Leader
By Rev Winnie Ong, Lifeline Family Church
How is leadership and followship the same yet different? Rev Dr William Toh shares his experiences in both roles during the Aug 2TiP where our ministers gathered for training and prayer.
Together in Prayer and Training (2TiP) was held on August 1, 2024. Rev Gary Chia from Eternal Life Assembly led a vibrant worship before Rev Dr William Toh addressed AG ministers on “Leadership and Followership as a Subordinate Leader”. Originally a Mandarin-speaking pastor, Rev Dr Toh is also fluent in English.
Most Christian leaders serve as subordinate leaders at various strata in their church or ministry. Subordinate leaders are followers of their leaders, yet at the same time they are leaders of their followers.
I. Leadership and Followership
A leader is someone who has followers, who have chosen to follow the leader. They share a common goal. In growing churches, followers wholeheartedly accept the leader’s influence to accomplish their common goal. Followers need to level up in terms of ability and competency.
II. Christian Leadership
God calls every leader to be a servant leader so that the needs of the organization can be met, resources can be distributed, and lives can be developed and deployed for Kingdom purposes. Healthy churches constantly check if they are positively impacting their community and be salt and light of the world.
III. Subordinate Leaders
The key to effective following is stewardship. Followers are also called to the church or organization. Knowing that you are called to follow a leader helps you to persevere when the going is tough, have a servant attitude towards your senior leader, and exude positive energy. Rev Dr Toh had been a subordinate leader for over 25 years and shared many real-life experiences (including mistakes) and principles.
Rev Dr Toh advised, “Know your leader—his personality traits, philosophy of ministry, strengths and weaknesses, leadership style, what causes him stress, etc. What he does not like to do, you can complement him with your team.”
The subordinate leader’s role or calling is appointed by God. He or she is called to support his leader so that together they can fulfill what God wants them to accomplish. David and his mighty men are a good example. “These were the chiefs of David’s mighty warriors—they, together with all Israel, gave his kingship strong support to extend it over the whole land, as the Lord had promised.” (1 Chronicles 11:10)
In a Christian organization context, an effective follower is one who is called by God with godly character, competency and willingness to follow the leader to accomplish God’s agenda for the organization by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Conclusion
Senior leaders should not let their leadership overshadow their subordinates. “Jesus himself is not only the greatest leader of all times, but he is also the greatest follower of all times.”
As the senior leader can see further while subordinate leader sees less, he is to give the subordinate leader trust, the benefit of doubt, and look for the right timing.
“Never try to change the leader. If God does not change him, ask Him to change you, so both of you have synergy.”
Rev Dr Toh’s book Leading and Following: The Effective Subordinate Leader in Christian Ministry is available on Amazon’s Kindle Store. The 233-page book presents a rich offering of guidelines and practical advice based on biblical principles and sound theology.
At the end of the month’s 2TiP, Rev Dr William Toh generously gave the ministers his PowerPoint slides so that they can refer to them in private.
Following Rev Dr William Toh’s message, the ministers gathered in small groups to pray for the church, the youth, and culture of family bonds with proper rhythms of rest and renewal.
Dr Joyce Chan Pei See, Honorary Advisor of Talking Hearts.SG received Associate Membership with the AG fellowship. Talking Hearts.SG provides highly subsidized professional counselling services to individuals, couples, and families.
Before lunch, we watched a short video introducing Global Concert of Prayer which encourages Christians to commit to 50 hours of prayer and worship to advance God’s kingdom from 16-18 September 2024.
