In his bestselling book “The Power of Followership,” Robert Kelly asserts that leaders account for, at most, 20 percent of an organization’s success. The remaining 80 percent depends on followers. In fact, principled followership leads to effective and trustworthy leadership. The master begins as a disciple; the teacher, as a student; and the expert, as an apprentice.

Our obsession with leadership has cast a long shadow over the equally vital role of followership in governance. Sound political and economic systems do not just depend on good leaders, but also on responsible followers. Yet in the Philippines, many of us regard government leaders as the sole architects of our national destiny, and we, the passive recipients of their supposed benevolence. Consequently, when things go wrong, we blame those in power, rarely questioning our own role in the system.

This misplaced emphasis on leadership is not unique to us. Years ago, I came across a Youth Summit held in Lagos, Nigeria, where participants issued a damning statement: “The political situation in our country has sadly become like a relay race, where one person hands the baton to another. Leadership positions in many government offices revolve around the same families, dynasties, or political turncoats who change loyalties as they jockey for power. Their leadership has led to abject poverty, unemployment, poor-quality education, and a collapsing economy.”

But Dr. Makanjuola Owolabia, a Nigerian physician and retired Air Force officer, offered a sobering reminder: “We are all guilty of the mess we are in. We talk endlessly about the fiscal deficit, when our real problem is a ‘character deficit,’ a disease that afflicts not only our leaders but also us, their constituents. We elect thieves and corrupt politicians, and so we end up with leaders who lack integrity and moral fiber.”

Dr. Owolabia’s words hit close to home. How often do we choose convenience over conscience during elections? We must take responsibility for the corruption we help perpetuate through apathy, compromise, or willful ignorance. We are quick to mock the incompetence of some politicians, but as philosopher Bertrand Russell once said, “If a leader is stupid, his constituents are even more so for having elected him.”

Consider this: Our primary vocation as Christians is not to lead, but to follow. When Jesus called His first disciples, He did not say, “Come and be leaders,” but rather, “Come, follow Me” (Matthew 16:24). St. Paul echoed this by urging early Christians, “Be imitators of me,” which means,“Be my followers.”

Jesus taught that true leadership is not a status, but a responsibility rooted in humility, obedience, and service. This is reflected in today’s Gospel reading (Luke 17:5–10) that reminds us that we lead by serving. Christ Himself modeled this when He “emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, and becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6–8).

What our country needs today are not just great leaders, but good followers. We need citizens who uphold the law and listen to their conscience, who refuse to sell their votes and are not content with street protests alone. One concrete initiative they can support is Senate Bill 1330, which proposes a blockchain-based budget system to record and monitor government allocations, disbursements, and contracts in real time. As its proponent emphasized, this tool will only succeed if citizens step up as budget watchdogs, diligently tracking insertions, realignments, and procurement processes from planning to implementation.

Above all, we need followers who remind our leaders that they are public servants, not untouchable overlords. As one celebrity aptly put it during the recent anti-corruption rally, “You are not our idols. You are our employees. We pay your salary.”

This mindset must echo into every barangay, city hall, and voting booth. Our nation’s future does not rest solely in the hands of our leaders, but also in us, the followers, who choose them and must hold them to account.