Building Leaders, Not Followers

In Episode 14 of Kingdom Insight, Dr. L. K. Leonard teaches why leadership is not measured by how many people follow you, but by how many people you develop.

Strong leaders understand that their responsibility extends beyond managing people and accomplishing tasks. They intentionally invest in others, develop future leaders, and create a legacy that continues beyond their own leadership.

In this episode, we explore the difference between delegation and development, the importance of succession planning, and why leadership multiplication is essential for long-term impact.

If you are a pastor, ministry leader, mentor, or organizational leader seeking to build lasting influence, this conversation will challenge and encourage you.

📖 Scriptures Referenced

John 14:12
Exodus 18:21
Deuteronomy 31:7–8
Luke 9:54–55
Ephesians 4:11–12

Transcript

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Kingdom Insight, episode 14, building leaders, not followers. Welcome to Kingdom Insight with Dr. L.K. Leonard, raising thanks back to God through clarity, structure, and spiritual authority. One of the greatest tests of leadership is not what happens when you're present, it's what happens when you're absent. Many leaders are successful at gathering followers, but biblical leadership is not measured by how many people follow you. Biblical leadership is measured by how many people you develop, how many people you impact. Because if everything depends on you, then something is wrong. If the ministry cannot move without you, if the organization cannot function without you, if no one is growing into leadership around you, then maybe you have the build dependency instead of development. And today we're talking about building leaders, not followers. Because leadership that lasts always multiplies itself. The first thing we see is that secure leaders develop others. In John 14 to 12, Jesus said, Greater works than these shall you do. And one of the reasons some leaders are uh never develop uh leaders is insecurity. They're insecure. Developing leaders requires confidence because developing leaders mean that you're gonna share the responsibility, it means that you're gonna share uh the influence, you're gonna share opportunities and allow others to grow. And some leaders unconsciously uh gather followers because followers feel safe. They feel safe to me. Followers depend on uh you and followers make you feel needed, and followers make you feel important, but Jesus never was threatened by the success of the disciples. In fact, Jesus declared that there would be greater works that they would do than him. Think about it. Jesus was was was secure enough to prepare people to go even farther than him, and that's the real heart of biblical leadership. We have to be confident enough and secure enough to develop people to be able to lead. We we're not not concerned that or jealous or or insecure that they're gonna take our place. What God has for you is for you, and God is not gonna move you until he's through with you. God is not going to um take you out of where he is working in you at. He's called you to develop the people that's around you, the people in your ministry. And we're so busy, and the society uh is is so caught up in followers now that that that everybody wants to be a follower, and nobody's being a leader. We need to develop more leaders. We need more leaders. So insecure leaders uh collect followers, but secure leaders develop leaders. Strong leaders are not afraid of raising strong people. The second thing is delegation is not development. Exodus 18 and 21 says, Select capable men. Many leaders confuse delegation with development. Both start with a D, but not the same. Uh, they are not the same because delegation says, do this task. But development says, Let me build your capacity, let me raise your capacity to have where you have the wherewithal and you have the ability to do this. Uh, a person can complete tasks for years and still never become a leader. And we've we're seeing that in in our days and times, there's too many uh people that have been completed tasks for years and they've been doing things and they've been faithful to their leader, but they haven't been developed and they haven't become a leader, even though they've been doing tasks. Because leadership development is more than just giving you the work. If I'm trying to develop someone, it's more than me just giving them the task. It it's more than me just giving them the work. But leadership development is it involves teaching, it involves coaching, it involves correcting, it involves encouraging, it involves stretching people out of their comfort zone. A lot of times I hear people say, Well, I don't want to bother them, I don't want to hurt their feelings, and I don't want to do this. But when you're a leader, sometimes you have to hurt feelings, and sometimes you stretch people out of their comfort zone, sometimes you take people from where they are, but you're developing them, they're stretching them, you're pulling them out of what they are and developing and giving them capacity. And giving someone responsibility doesn't automatically develop them. Just because I give you a responsibility don't mean that I've developed you. It doesn't mean that you have the capacity to do it. But when I take time, development, it takes um intentional investment. If I intentionally invest in you to do this thing, and I intentionally invest in you uh to do the work, then I I'm uh it's more than just delegating you to do something, but I'm developing you. I'm trying to give you some capacity. Giving someone a test does not make them a leader. Developing their capacity does. And this is why so many ministries have workers, but very few leaders. Work is being done, but leadership is not being developed. The third thing is leadership secession must start early. Deuteronomy 31, 7 through 8. Moses understood something many leaders miss. And we're in a season where a lot of successors don't understand and don't know what to do because it didn't start early. Sucession cannot begin at the end. Uh, it must begin before transition arrives, before they get old, before before Moses left, Joshua was already being prepared. Joshua traveled with Moses, Joshua observed Moses, uh Joshua learned from Moses, Joshua watched Moses, Joshua served alongside Moses, and by the time Moses was gone, Joshua was ready. But let me explain something. A lot of people have their their followers or uh young men or women following them and going with them and traveling with them and doing things, but they're not learning. They're not, you're not, you don't have teachable moments. You don't explain things to them. Why you just have them tagging along, they're just bopping along behind you, but they're not learning, they're not being developed, you're not having teachable moments sharing with them. I did this because of that, and I I I I handled this that way because, and you take time to develop them and give them capacity. And by the time, you know, but but too many don't want to do that because of the last point I made was insecure. And many organizations struggle because leadership development starts way too late. By the time it's time, it's too late, and and by the time you get there, then it's it's a dead situation. And people are expected to lead without being prepared. We got so many people that are being thrown into leadership roles and been thrown into leadership positions, and they're not being prepared. You know, they don't even know that what they're working on, they don't have the the background, and nobody's showing them anything, and they put them out there, and you expect them just to know what you've been sitting here, you've been watching me, you've been following me, but you never taught me. I was just seeing, and when I'm seeing you, I'm I'm I'm in my mind, I'm I'm I'm developing something, but it it may not be the right thing, but because I'm just interpreting what I see you doing. So strong leaders are always asking, who am I developing right now? Who am I preparing for the future? Who can carry this vision beyond me? Leadership succession should begin long before leadership transition. The fourth thing is development requires patience and investment. A lot of times leaders don't have patience and investment, don't have the time. Leader, Luke 9, uh verse 54 through 55. The disciples were not perfect. The disciples misunderstood Jesus. The disciples made mistakes, they lacked maturity, and sometimes they just completely missed the point. And sometimes we we don't have enough patience. A leader, a real leader, has to learn patience. A strong leader has to learn patience. He has to learn, uh uh or she has to learn patience. They have to learn um how to invest. Uh uh yet Jesus kept investing in those disciples. Why? Why do they keep investing? Because development takes time. God sent them help, but they don't want the help because they don't want to take time to invest. They don't want to take time, they don't want to have patience. But few leaders really want to invest. They want the help, but they don't want to invest in the people that come to help them. Development is messy. Because you know why development is messy, because people. And people require correction, people require encouragement, people require repetition, and people require accountability. I told you this the first time, and I'm not gonna keep telling you that leadership. Everybody's not, you have to correct people. Some people don't have enough courage to correct people, some people don't have don't know how to encourage people, some people don't have repetition, some people try to don't have accountability, and we have to have those things in order to develop people. Growth rarely happens overnight, but it happens through consistent investment. People are not developed through events, they are developed through investment. The strongest leader understands that development is a process. The fifth thing is your greatest legacy is people. I know, I know, I know, I know. You thought that it was what you were gonna leave in the will, what you accomplished in life and everything. But listen, your greatest investment, your greatest legacy is people. Ephesians 4, 11 and 12 says to equip the saints. Because buildings matter, budgets matters, your programs matter, and your strategies matter, but most of all, people matter the most. One day every leader is gonna leave, and every pastor is gonna leave, and every CEO is gonna leave, and every founder is gonna leave. And the question is not whether will you leave, but the question would be what will remain when you do leave? Buildings do not carry the vision, budgets do not carry the vision, programs do not carry the vision, people carry the vision. The strongest leader leaves behind people who can continue the mission. Your greater leadership legacy will not be what you accomplished, it will be who you develop. As leaders, we must think beyond ourselves. Don't just gather followers, develop leaders. Don't just be a ministry, be a people, don't just create activities, create multiplication. Because leadership that depends on one person is fragile. But leadership that develops other leaders becomes legacy. And the true measure of leadership is not who follows you while you're present, it's who continues the mission when you're gone. The true measure of leadership is not who follows you while you're present, it's who continues the mission when you're gone. This is kingdom insight, leadership, infrastructure, and clarity.