The Character of Leadership: Nehemiah
In this study of the character of leadership, I find myself thinking about “the character of characters.” A “character” is a person, often someone who plays a part in a story and is an example from whom we can learn, but it is also a trait or attribute that can be applied to that person and to his/her leadership. When we study the character of that character – identifying biblical characters, and then identifying something in their character that can teach us something about who we are and how we lead – we learn things about the character of leadership that can be applied in our own lives. In this week’s episode, we are learning from Nehemiah.
In my years of educational leadership, and in the various roles that I served, part of my responsibility was connected to strategic planning. Sometimes I was a member on a committee, and sometimes I was driving the committee, but regardless, it was an important part of what I did. In several instances, that strategic planning also involved some type of capital improvement or construction along the way. It may have been renovations or additions to current facilities, or it may have been the construction of brand new buildings. And to do that required intentional thought and planning and a process that had to be put in place, starting from exploring the needs and the options, to getting buy-in from people, getting the necessary funds and resources, and then carrying out the construction plan.
That’s one of the great lessons that Nehemiah helps us to learn. He successfully brought about the construction of a project for the Jews in Israel, and did it in an incredibly remarkable fashion. Understand that Nehemiah was the cupbearer to the king. What that means is that it was his responsibility to test the food and drink that came into the king to make sure that there was no poison intended to harm the king. That also meant that he was a very trusted employee of the leader of the land. That’s remarkable, given that he was a Jew, and his people were captive in another land where he was serving that king. But in that capacity, God also gave him a burden and a purpose, for helping to restore the security of Jerusalem.
Even though this mission and calling to serve God and lead his people in a project was a calling that came from God, that did not remove Nehemiah‘s responsibility to be strategic and purposeful in the project. So he began by getting permission from his boss, the king, to go and see what he faced in his work to carry out this task in Jerusalem. With permission in hand, he first went quietly, without drawing any attention, to go and look at the situation, to evaluate what obstacles he would be facing and what would need to be accomplished, so that he could prepare a plan. Then, with that plan in hand, he gathered the resources, came to the people, presented the plan to them, and then initiated and drove the construction project. In his case, the “construction project“ was rebuilding the wall around the city of Jerusalem. Keep in mind that this was a fairly massive wall, perhaps 20 feet high and 10 feet thick, intended to serve as a protective barrier for the city. What is incredibly remarkable is that Nehemiah was able to lead the construction project in such a way that the wall around the entire city, which had been broken down rubble, was rebuilt in less than two months. That is amazing! I’ve been involved in numerous construction projects, and it is normal for a single 30,000 square-foot building to take a year to a year-and-a-half to build. That’s a single building, and yet Nehemiah led the reconstruction of the wall around an entire city in less than 60 days!
How did he do that? First of all, he was being obedient to God‘s leading, and it was God‘s plan, not Nehemiah’s, so God‘s timing was very much a part of the process. But he gave Nehemiah the ability and wisdom to be strategic in his planning, so that the “less than 60 days“ process was really only the timeline for the actual physical construction. Nehemiah had spent additional time before that getting permission, getting resources, evaluating the circumstances, and preparing the plan. That was where the strategic part came into place. And that’s an important lesson that we can learn from the character of this character.
On the front end of the process, Nehemiah was called by God to rebuild the walls. On the back end, he led the people of Israel in an incredible construction process of a little under two months to actually rebuild those walls. In between, he engaged in strategic planning so that he was prepared for the project, and prepared to lead it. That’s a critical part of your role as a leader. God may have called you to something, and you will be blessed if you get to see the work brought to fruition, but in between you have a responsibility to develop a strategic plan based on your circumstances so that you can lead it well. From Nehemiah‘s example, learn to be strategic.
