Friday; March 2


One of my favorite stories in the Old Testament is the biography of Nehemiah.  Nehemiah was a servant in the Persian king’s palace who came to learn that his ancestral homeland, Jerusalem, was in a shambles.  Multiple invasions and decades of neglect had rendered the once great city a mess.  Nehemiah felt compelled to leave his good job and make a difference for the people of Jerusalem and the Jewish religion.  There are several great moments in the story of the rebuilding of the walls of the city of Jerusalem, but one of my favorites is summed up in this observation, “So we built the wall and the whole wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.”.  (Nehemiah 4:6)  As I think about Nehemiah’s influence, I am fascinated by his leadership ability.  You see, it wasn’t the people who made this happen.  Many of them had been living in these conditions for years – the difference was in the leadership.  Yes, the people provided the manpower and muscle, but it wasn’t until Nehemiah helped them to understand why the work was important.  When they were inspired to work, they overcome years of decay, daily hardships, constant discouragement and personal danger to accomplish the job.
One of the keys to leadership is helping people understand what is important and why it is necessary to undertake the effort.  Until people are “inspired”, leaders can have the best of intentions and the most innovative methods, but things won’t get done.  In other words, leaders need to establish the “why” before spending too much time on the “how”. 
Is there a project that you have been tasked to tackle?  If so, the place to start is helping people appreciate the need for or the value in accomplishing the goal.  If we fail to do that, no amount of planning can overcome lethargy ... but, when we do that, few challenges will be able to derail a people driven by a “mind to work”.
Think about it!

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