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

[Sushan Ekanayake]

I do think it's important for a leader to inspire their followers, because what's leadership without inspiration?

However, I'll have to disagree. A leader can inspire followers but they can feel uncertain, lost or don't know what to do or the correct path. The essence of guidance is to create a path and examples which followers can easily relate to and feel more motivated by. There are also some who can be inspired and want to do the right thing, but don't have the ideas or tools to carry out whatever they want to do, which is why guidance is imperative in leadership.

Very true. Inspiration is important, but inspiration will more or less make a new leader rather than making a good team. Everyone cannot become a leader. Some are good team members. It is the task of the leader to properly identify his/her team, and the various sstrengths and weaknesses of the team members, and utilize that knowledge to direct the team effort to achieve the goal. For that guidance is what is needed most.

[Mwatu]

I feel a leader needs to do both. However, I think being able to inspire leads to a more productive team as they are likely to do more than is expected of them. Being able to inspire allows the team to look into paths that the leader might have missed and they are more motivated to reach the set goal.

[Trinity Green]

I think a good leader is a combination of both. Yes, a leader needs to be able to inspire their followers, but it is just as necessary for them to be able to guide them. Guidance is a defining part of what a leader is.

[Raluca_Mihaila]

I do not think that a leader's job is set in stone. A good leader must know to adjust his behavior according to his followers' situation. Sometimes he must lead them, and sometimes he must be their inspiration. These 2 attitudes don't contradict each other because they go hand in hand.

[mraphael1]

I agree that leadership should inspire their followers and it is especially important during times of hardships. But I also think there are times to let the followers to make their own decisions and create their own answers to questions.

[Chizioboli]

When a leader lacks direction, how well can he give his followers. These days, leaders are made/ chose because of their ability to encourage and inspire either with their lives or personal experience. Thus, it is best suitable to say that a leader inspires his followers rather than guide them

[Sarah Nichols 7]

I think a good leader should do both. A leader is a guide and an inspiration. I don’t really agree with the author’s take on Jesus as just inspiring His children. He does guide like a shepherd does for His sheep.

[yomide]

I have to agree to disagree. If a leader is supposed to guide his/her followers path, then the followers are walking the leaders path. However, a follower should also be inspired to find and follow his own path (I am not talking religiously). But then why would you call one a folower if he/she is not following the leader? So I think a leader should be guide the followers as well as inspire them to follow their own path.

[Scarbaby]

I do agree with the above and these words made me think of the practice of Ho’oponopono. When we act, we are coming from one of two places: memory or inspiration. The goal should be to act from inspiration and remove the stored data within ourselves that ultimately limits us from reaching a state of true bliss. With that being said, I do believe a leader should inspire others by first learning how to act from inspiration within themselves. Inspiration should always be the goal.

[SamaylaM]

Yes, surely a leader should inspire his/her followers as it can awaken motivation in them. But he/she has to pave the way to the end goal and guide his/her followers. Otherwise, all followers will not have the same end goal to focus on. In fact, just because a follower is inspired by a leader does not guarantee that he/she has a goal. This is why leaders need not only to inspire but also to guide. Because there might not only be followers who need the inspiration but also those who need the guidance.

[Abisolalawal]

I disagree. Leaders should not only inspire his/her followers but also instruct, direct and guide them. A good leader should help their followers to achieve their goals and that would be achieved through several means and not only via inspiration. The bible has different instances where Jesus commanded his disciples on what to do and there are times when he asked them to simply follow him.
Overall, a good leader should be able to identify his/her follower's goals and know how to lead accordingly as some would do well with accepting and carrying out what is being told while some would learn simply by observation and some would do well with being directed and inspired.

[Kelyn]

One of the definitions given in Merriam Webster for "guide" is: To point out the way for; direct on a course; conduct; lead. The keyword there is "lead." A good leader doesn't just inspire his/her followers and then leave them to flounder along a course they aren't familiar with; he 'guides' them or shows them the way. Of course, some will need more guidance, some less. A good leader knows when his/her 'inspiration' of their followers is not quite enough and when they need guidance.

[Stephen Lemessy]

TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP
As the name implies transformational leadership is a process, that changes and transforms people. It is concerned with emotions, values ethics, standards and long term goals. It includes assessing followers motives, satisfying their needs and treating them as full human beings. This focus on transforrmational leadership sets the stage for the discussion on the stated topic "A good leader should not guide his/ her followers but should inspire them". Transformational leadership involves an exceptional form of influence that moves followers to accomplish more than what is usually expected of them. It is a process that incorporates charismatic and visionary leadership.
An encompassing approach, transformational leadership transformational leadership can be used to to describe a wide range of leadership, from very specific attempts to to influence followers on a one to one level to very broad attempts to influence whole organizations and even entire cultures. Authentic transformational leadership is socialized leadership which is concerned with the collective good. Socialized transformational leadership trancend their own interest for the sake of others (Howell and Avolio 1993). This topic is important because it can sort out the complexities related to the moral uplifting component of of authentic good leadership (Zhu, Avilio, Riggo and Sosik 2011) who proposed the theoretical model examining how authentic transformational influenced the ethics of individual followers and groups. The authors hypothesize that authentic transformational leadership positively affect followers moral identities and and moral emotions.

[morganlowenkamp]

I think that inspiring his/her leaders is part of guiding them. Guiding them to what it is that inspires them! Inspiration doesn't happen without guidance in my opinion.

[Kenna Ridzi]

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.

Well said. A good leader should do just that, lead, which means they'd focus on guiding their followers rather than inspiring them. Thanks for the feedback.