You Will Never Lead Well If You Don’t Follow Well

 

 

I’ve Got Your Back by James C. Galvin

 It’s a simple concept really; to lead well you need to be good at following.  Growing up being a “follower” was on par with being called a bad name.  It showed that you did not have a mind of your own and couldn’t, or wouldn’t, think for yourself.  But the point we missed as kids was that everyone is in some sort of followership.  If we don’t follow well then we will not be effective or good leaders when the time comes for us to step into that position.

The idea that following well leads to good leadership is presented in story form; I’ve Got Your Back uses several characters in their own, unique, situations to show us the difference in followership and leadership-both good and bad.   These young adults fall under the mentorship of a man who uses the lessons in his life to show them how to best lead and follow.  Their stories are nice and tidy, but this isn’t meant to be an in depth saga, the purpose of the stories are to support the premise of the author.  The characters guide us in what it looks like to follow well at the appropriate times and how to lead well, even if we are not in an official leadership role.

The last third of the book is the “official” teaching part.  It explains more about leadership starting with Adam & Eve, through the fall, and how it will be in heaven.  It goes on to give Bible passages to support the idea of Three Types of Followership and the Five Levels of Followership.  A discussion guide is at the end.

I think this is a great book, especially for laypeople in the church.  There are many leadership books out there with great information but they don’t really speak to the place where most of us are in our lives.  This book is good for every person.  We might not all be CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies, but we are all human beings under some sort of authority and most likely with a measure of power over another-whether familial, work, civic, or church related.

For more information about this book--click here--or on the title above!

I received this book from Handlebar Publishing free of charge in exchange for an honest review.