Leadership 101: Part 7

“I put in charge of Jerusalem my brother Hanani along with Hananiah the commander of the citadel because he was a man of integrity and feared God more than most men do.”  Nehemiah 7:2

Imagine walking down abandoned railroad tracks. Rounding a bend, you see a tunnel up ahead. There’s no danger of an approaching train, so you enter the tunnel and see off in the distance a pinpoint of light at the tunnel’s exit.

As you begin, it grows darker with every step. You can see only slivers of light at both ends of the tunnel. But halfway is hard. It’s too far to go back, and hard to move forward. Finally, the light grows brighter as you approach the tunnel’s end. Eventually, you emerge into the bright light, ready to continue on. But … now what?

The tunnel is an analogy for the stages of a project. At the start you have only a vague idea of what lies ahead. In the middle, the road is long and hard making it easier to give up. You realize, “Starting is easy; finishing strong is harder.”1 But the most difficult moment is when the project ends. What’s next? For Nehemiah, the wall was completed, so he turned to the task of governing the city.

Leadership Lessons

A leader selects top quality personnel.

• Nehemiah selected two men to serve as co-rulers of Jerusalem based on 2 clear criteria:

– They must possess high integrity

– They must fear the Lord.

• An organization is only as good as its’ people. The leader’s responsible to select the best people possible for each position.

 A leader establishes sensible policies.

• Nehemiah set sound policies for life in the restored city:

– The gates stay closed until the sun was hot.

– The gatekeepers shut the doors and barred them while on duty.

– The guards must be residents of Jerusalem

– The guards must be stationed near their homes.

• Policies set expectations and guidelines for the members of an organization. The leaders responsible for developing wise and practical policies.

A leader conducts periodic assessments.

• A status report was made concerning the environment.

– The city was large and spacious.

– Few people- lived in it.

– The houses had not yet been rebuilt.

• A status report was made concerning available resources.

– The people were required to register by family.

– Financial contributions were gathered and tallied.

A leader listens to God’s promptings.

• “So my God put it in my heart …”2
• “I found the genealogical record …”3

A leader protects the organization’s integrity.

• Charge: Some priests could not prove their Jewish heritage.
• Due process: They searched for their records without success.
• Decision: They were excluded from the priesthood.
• Conditions: They couldn’t eat sacred meat until heritage proven.

Prayer
“Lord, I’m constantly amazed at how relevant your Word is to my life.  The Book of Nehemiah is a basic primer for modern leaders.  Thank you for it.  Amen”

Endnotes
1 Gordon Whyte
2 Nehemiah 7:2a
3 Nehemiah 7:2b

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