Do you believe that the statement, "before leading, one must learn to follow," is true?

yup. and a man who cannot control himself cannot be expected to control others.

Yep....pay your dues. If you can't follow leadership, why would anyone follow yours? Besides being a follower gives you "seasoning" time to learn how to motivate as well as avoid pitfalls....

I dont know I would word it that way, but I agree with the concept..
yes you have to understand, be willing to be a follower to be a good leader.
For one thing, no matter your rank, there is always someone you will need to follow at some point. And secondly if you dont consider how the order will be executed (or if it even can be by your followers) than you have not done due diligence as that leader.
"Paint all the tanks RED, White and Blue for Family day, get going now and have it done my COB tomorrow"
Never considering the followers have no paint, literally not enough time, the order would violate policy and TM guidance for painting those pieces of equipment