Folleadership: The Priority and Practice of Following Christ First in Order to Maintain Integrity in Ministry

Leadership is a well-trodden topic on the road to personal development and difference-making. Divergent views offer a plethora of leadership landscapes for the exploration of every hungry student of leadership, and yet, there is an undercurrent that threatens to sweep the most seasoned leader off his or her feet. It is a force that exposes and exploits a leader’s most personal and unseen flaws. It is the one enemy that threatens every leader’s legacy. It is the question every leader must answer, “Who are you following?” I believe that leadership at its foundation is about influence, but what is the foundation upon which influence grows and expands? Influence transforms only where there is integrity in the life of the leader. It is the relationship between the increasing influence and the priority of following Christ in the life of a leader that is the basis for this dissertation and gives rise to the term “Folleadership”, the priority of following Christ first and leading others second.
A leader’s followership is the foundation upon which his or her leadership will either fail or flourish. The relationship between outward competency and inward character is paramount to the understanding of transformational leadership making integrity the central focal point of every leader’s followership.
Developing one’s capacity to follow Christ to the end is the key to finishing well. This dissertation shows that there is a relationship between the practice of following Christ and the capacity to finish well in ministry. This dissertation shows that integrity in one’s leadership is the result of one’s commitment to following Christ. Folleadership demonstrates how men and women in ministry can make following Christ the priority for lasting leadership and transformational results.