“The best leaders were & are great followers. Great followers learn how to lead without the power given by position.” – Randy Blincow, Founder, Healthy Rhythms Life Coaching

If the best leaders lead from the perspective of being great followers, what makes a great follower? Today let’s explore the second of what I consider to be the top ten characteristics that must be increasingly exhibited in the lives of great followers: discernment.

Too often, in my opinion, we observe followers who display blind faith, or blind loyalty, to their leaders. Any leader worthy of their position does not want these kinds of followers. On the other hand, you cannot refuse to follow someone just because they make mistakes, or you would follow no one! Unless what is being proposed is illegal, immoral, or unethical – it is entirely reasonable that we go along with the decision of a leader even if we disagree with that direction. In fact, it’s not only reasonable, but also downright necessary if any organization or structure is going to function efficiently.

But that does not mean that you do so blindly, without exercising discernment. Followers display their value when they are bold (see Part One of this series) enough to have their input heard and considered. Then when a decision is made, they work to ensure the best, desired, outcome from that direction.

We often hear the attributes of wisdom and discernment mentioned together. I like to distinguish them and describe how these two attributes interact with one another in this way: 1) discernment is the willingness and ability to see people, circumstances, & situations and understand the various paths forward along with the probable outcomes of taking those paths, while 2) wisdom is the willingness and ability to take the most correct path discerned. This is why discernment is included in my list of necessary characteristics of followers. Valuable input and recommendations come from using discernment, which followers can provide to leaders, freeing them to be involved in other activities. Then, the leader can use wisdom based upon that recommendation.

Discernment may ultimately feel “intuitive”, but it involves a disciplined development to get to that point. Discernment is like a muscle that must be exercised (practiced) to be developed. This involves intentional study, playing out scenarios in your mind, and filing away learnings about how individual people, teams, and entire organizations respond to various circumstances and situations. Being proficient at discernment makes you an invaluable asset to any leader and will eventually allow you to be a great leader because it has become more “intuitive” to you by that point. Then you can allow followers to develop it for themselves.

One final very important point on this topic. Discernment is not an exact science. This means it does and will always include a degree of uncertainty as you trial and error your way to results. Followers must dedicate themselves to proficiency in discernment because, while mistakes are never going to be eliminated, to be a great follower, it is necessary to be correct increasingly often. Leaders who are bold enough to make quick decisions and are also bold enough to quickly correct bad decisions need followers who are bold enough to discern which path to take and quickly see when that path needs to be altered. Practice, practice, practice discernment!