Hebrews 13: 7, 9a  "Remember your leaders who have taught you the Word of God.  Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and try to trust the Lord as they do…So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas.  Your spiritual strength comes as a gift from God, not from ceremonial rules…"

The leaders tomorrow will be you.  The leaders of today have taught you the Word of God.
Watch their lives.  Do what they have done.  But be careful.  Make sure you are following a person who uses the Bible as their guide, not the random, unnecessary, ceremonial  rules of some church.

Paul put it this way:  "Dear brothers, pattern your lives after mine, and notice who else lives up to my example.  For I have told you often before, and I say it again now with tears in my eyes, there are many who walk along the Christian road who are really enemies of the cross of Christ."  Philippians 17-18.

Basically, we are to be in the company of strong leaders.  Strong Christians.  And we are to grow up and be the same.  And be careful not to follow the wrong people.  Enemies of the cross.

Ken used to say, "Tell me who you are running with and I will tell you what you are doing."  That is so true.  You may have to drop a friend or two.  I did.  I had a friend who always had something bad to say about others.  I found that when I was with her, I had difficult time not joining in.  Which was wrong, ungodly, not loving, and certainly not a Christian behavior.  So, I had to ease myself out of that relationship.  I want to be around positive people because I want to  be positive.  I want to see the good in others, not the bad.  I want to be with people who make me better.

And finally, the writer says that our spiritual strength is a gift from God.  It comes from applying what we know and building spiritual muscles.

Someone is following you.  Watching you.  Are you leading them in the right direction?