"A good leader should not guide his/her followers, but should inspire them". Do you agree?

[Brenda Creech]

"Even looking at our expert leader, Jesus, whose Word is life, we can see this lesson lived out. Jesus is not merely an itinerant preacher who directs our steps. He is a soul-stirrer who invites us to walk with Him. If our master, Jesus, leads us by walking with us and stirring us to discover, then these earthly leaders must learn to come alongside and help others discover their own best answers."
(Chapter 2, Page 9)

Most often we compare how a boss will treat his subordinates and how a leader will treat his followers. Upto now I had the idea that a leader should guide his/her followers. But this author has given leadership a new meaning claiming that it is not the leader's job to show the path and guide his/her followers towards a specific goal, but to inspire them to find their own answers and be their own guidance.

Do you agree with this 'job description' of a leader? If a leader is guiding his/her followers, will it make he/she a 'not so good' leader?

I agree with the author on this because I have seen it in action! Guiding your followers makes you an excellent leader.
One size doesn't fit all in this. Everyone has a different personality than someone else. You can't expect an introvert to approach things the way an extrovert does. You have to guide them and encourage them to find a way to accomplish a goal or do a job the way that is most comfortable for them to reach the desired outcome!

[Sushan Ekanayake]

I personally think this is relevant to the phrase "If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.” I think the best kind of leadership comes from inspiring and teaching people how they can do things on their own. If they continue to rely your guidance, they aren't truly going to benefit as much as if you inspire them to be able to do things on their own.

Well that statement has a great value. If you can teach a skill to a human rather than providing him with his needs, he will provide for himself continously.

But a leader is there to guide a team. It is true that a leader can still teach skills to his followers and also inspire them as well. But to achieve good team work and to go for a common goal the team needs guidance, and that is the task of the leader.

[Sushan Ekanayake]

A leader can guide, inspire, advise, and so on. They usually are appointed by a group who feel that the person can speak on their behalf. Jesus did guide his followers (in my opinion) or else there wouldn't be a Gospel. But he also inspired and advised them.
I think the author has in mind the type of leaders who force their opinion on others. There's my change!

A person who forces his opinion on his followers cannot be a leader, but a boss. As far as I believe, leaders just emerge because they stand out in a group. If a leader is elected by people, I believe that is more or less political.

Anyway, I agree with what you say. A leader will have to play different roles. Sometimes he has to inspire, but sometimes he has to guide. So this author's opinion on a good leader being inspirational rather than being a guidance cannot be fully accepted.

[Sushan Ekanayake]

Good leadership is a combination of guidance and inspiration. You have to show the way and set the example for them to follow.

I too think so. But as per this author, it is not good to set the path. You just have to make your followers make their own paths. But what I believe is, by doing that they will go on their own paths towards their own, most probably various goals. But a leader should lead his followers towards a common goal. So for that setting the path and let them to follow is essential.

[Michael Jerry_]

I believe a good leader must find a balance between inspiring his followers and guiding them because in the Bible after Jesus has lived with the disciples and they had been inspired by him, Jesus proceeded to send the Holy Spirit to guide them (keep in mind Jesus, the Holy Spirit and God Almighty are the same) because you need to make sure your followers have been inspired in the way you want them to go and have not misunderstood your teachings and then gets inspired in ways you never expected. Guidance involves keeping your followers motivated and helping to curb their excesses so inspiration alone is not enough, a good leader must also guide.

[britcott30]

It is very hard to be a leader because I think a good leader has to show his/her example and also guide the followers so that they can be their own guidance.

[Kansas City Teacher]

Yes, a leader needs to inspire but they also need to lead and guide. It’s a great responsibility to lead people and it takes a lot to make people believe in you enough to follow. That’s why inspiration should be hand in hand with guidance.

Well said! Not everyone who is inspirational is a good leader. There must a certain degree of charisma and interpersonal skill involved to provide good leadership.

[WADonnelly]

I think that a good leader should be a guide but should also inspire others to make their own decisions and follow their own path. I think perhaps guide is the wrong word as guidance should not be forced but suggested.

[Suzer6440 xyz]

I do not think a leader needs to have both qualities. You can try to guide someone and that person is not always necessarily inspired by your efforts. Same goes for inspiration inspiration to not be interested in someone else’s guidance. So I generally feel that to be a good leader , it’s okay to have the motivativation to possess one of theses qualities.

[Nithilah Ayyappan]

I agree that a leader should only provide inspiration and aid to their followers, but should not guide them and lead them directly to their desired destination. A leader is meant to be a role model, someone that followers look up to for an example. Guidance would undermine the importance of a leader, as it would be similar to cheating the fate of the follower.

[Karmon Kuhn]

I think this is a valuable insight especially for leaders of adults, but as a teacher, I think there's more to leadership than setting a good example. While walking the walk and talking the talk are important aspects of inspiring students to be and do their best, children and young adults require a great deal of guidance and redirection. Without that kind of support, young people may lack direction, and without that direction and plenty of structure, kids are unlikely to make the best decisions for themselves.

[Chigozie Anuli Mbadugha]

I don't totally agree with this statement. I think a good leader should do both. At some point in our lives, we all need mentor-ship and guidance. At other times, we need inspiration from our leaders to do more and be more. Good leaders should guide as well as inspire.

[Jennifer Aldo]

A good leader should guide and Inspire his followers. Leadership involves guidance. Besides, people are inspired by different things, and guidance comes in different ways.

[Sushan Ekanayake]

Yes, a leader needs to inspire but they also need to lead and guide. It’s a great responsibility to lead people and it takes a lot to make people believe in you enough to follow. That’s why inspiration should be hand in hand with guidance.

Yes you need your followers to believe in you as a leader. You need inspiration for that. But too much inspiration will cause reduction of that trust, because when you try to inspire your followers and help them to find their own paths, if they are wishing for guidance, then it will be seen as your inability to take decisions, and it won't do any good for your leadership.

[Sushan Ekanayake]

I think it's definitely fair to say that leaders should inspire their followers. However, even Jesus himself offered guidance to his followers through the words of his parables. I think that good leaders need aspects of both in order to be successful.

I agree, good leaders should both inspire and guide their followers. However, I believe inspiration is better than guidance. Inspiration opens your eyes to new possibilities, new perspectives, essentially guiding in itself because the act of inspiring someone makes them want to do or create something. Guiding is having a direct influence on a course of action, and is that not what inspiration does? Hope this makes sense.

What you said is totally correct. But the problem is whether it is more suitable for a leader or a mentor. Inspiration will make new leaders. But a leader's task is to guide a team towards a goal. For that I think guidance is more important than inspiration. But you cannot achieve anything without inspiration. So both are needed, but I think guidance is the most needed.