7 Ways to Frustrate Your Followers

If leadership is influence then all us have a responsibility to lead in some capacity.  It may be a parent, boss, supervisor, employer, elder, or pastor.  When Paul wrote in Ephesians, " Fathers do not  exasperate your children," I believe we can apply this principle to all leadership scenarios.  Perhaps it could be translated, "leaders do not exasperate your followers".

The question then becomes, how do we as leaders exasperate our followers?  Let me suggest 7 ways.

1.  When we demonstrate a lack of integrity.  Integrity means to live an integrated life.  Jesus must impact every area of our life.  When it doesn't our followers lose respect.

2.  A lack of humility.  When a leader refuses to be teachable, approachable and admit when they are wrong, followers find themselves isolated, discouraged, and without validation.

3.  Playing favorites.  Nothing discourages followers more or creates jealousy when they see their leader giving preference regardless of ability and performance.  Just ask Joseph's 10 brothers.

4.  Entitlement.  There will always be leaders who demand respect for their position rather than command respect because of their character and competency.

5.  Failure to understand their followers.  Good leaders are good students of their followers.  Nothing discourages followers more than to be unappreciated for their uniqueness.

6.  A lack of consistent boundaries.  Every follower needs to have clear perimeters to function.  A lack of clarity can frustrate any follower.

7. Failure to keep promises.  Leaders who do not follow through or fail to keep their commitments create a lack of trust and cynicism among their followers.

God help us to be better spiritual leaders!