Stop Following Blind Leaders, or Get Used to Ditches

There was blood running all down his pants leg… The red blood stain was particularly heavy by his knee. Tyrone seemed to be in a lot of pain. He didn’t start crying yet, but you could see the tears welling up in his eyes. “Jonathan…” “Jonathan…” “I’ll bet my entire paycheck that Jonathan’s name is in this story.” “I’ll bet anything that that boy had something to do with the blood coming from your leg.”

I could not believe this was the first comment Tyrone’s mother said upon seeing her son’s bleeding leg. I never forgot her second comment. “Boy, When the blind lead the blind, both fall in the ditch.” “Either stop following behind Jonathan or get used to ditches.”

Most people learn about the “Blind leading the Blind” in Church or by reading the Bible. I learned it standing next to my friend with a bloody leg. Tyrone’s mother taught me an early and enduring lesson about the results of following or being associated with blind leadership. Jonathan’s blind leadership left Tyrone bloody and reprimanded by his mother. It’s funny; even through adulthood, it seems as if that pattern stays the same.

All people have leadership potential, whether they see themselves as leaders or not. But whether you see yourself as a person best suited to follow or to lead, understand that there is a real and often painful price to pay for associating yourself with Blind Leadership.

As leaders, we bear some responsibility for the advancement, achievement and progress for those under our charge. We are responsible to make sure that they don’t wind up like my childhood friend Tyrone. As followers, we are responsible to ourselves to make sure we don’t follow leaders like Jonathan; leaders that leave us bloody, bruised and embarrassed.

If we honestly examine the condition of our institutions, we would have to agree that far too many of us never took Tyrone’s mother’s advice. We never learned the lesson she tried to teach. We never stopped following Jonathan!

Following Jonathan has kept individuals and institutions alike from achieving in accord with their immense talents and abilities. Stay tuned for the next article. I’d like to give you a few tips on how to recognize and avoid following Blind Leadership! 

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4 The Leader In YOU!