Nehemiah's Leadership Skills
NEHEMIAH AND HIS LEADERSHIP SKILLS
Nehemiah was the son of Hacaliah and he was also the cupbearer of the Persian king Artaxerxes. He was putting on a sad face and the king did not like that and asked him why he was sad, though afraid he answered that the city in which his fathers had been buried was a ruin so then he asked permission to go and rebuild the it. He played a decisive role in the rebuilding of Judah. In 444 B.C. the king appointed Nehemiah governor of Judah under the Persian Empire and permitted him to go to Jerusalem in order to help his fellow Jews. Upon his arrival Nehemiah secretly inspected the city walls which were still in ruins. This became known to his two arch-enemies, Sanballat and Tobiah, who repeatedly acted to foil his plans for rebuilding the walls (Neh 2:17-20); but despite their active opposition, Nehemiah succeeded in his building project, completing the work in 52 days (Neh chaps. 3-4), and stationed guards at the city gates and also enforced several of the laws, such as the payment due to the Levites, the observance of the Sabbath and the abolition of mixed marriages. He concluded his memoirs with a prayer to God to remember to his credit all of his efforts to strengthen divine law within Jerusalem . In order to repopulate Jerusalem, the number of whose inhabitants had dwindled greatly, he ordered that one out of every ten Jews should take up residence in the capital. He also instituted a series of religious and social reforms including the commitment to avoid intermarriage, the cancellation of debts owed by the poor, the support of the Temple cult, and the payment of tithes drawn up and sealed in a covenant (Neh chap. 10) and he then returned to Persia.
After Nehemiah was given the permission to go and rebuild the city we see that he had some leadership qualities which helped him in the rebuilding process. Let us look at some few leadership skills which helped to navigate Nehemiah in the rebuilding of the city.
Firstly and
Nehemiah was the son of Hacaliah and he was also the cupbearer of the Persian king Artaxerxes. He was putting on a sad face and the king did not like that and asked him why he was sad, though afraid he answered that the city in which his fathers had been buried was a ruin so then he asked permission to go and rebuild the it. He played a decisive role in the rebuilding of Judah. In 444 B.C. the king appointed Nehemiah governor of Judah under the Persian Empire and permitted him to go to Jerusalem in order to help his fellow Jews. Upon his arrival Nehemiah secretly inspected the city walls which were still in ruins. This became known to his two arch-enemies, Sanballat and Tobiah, who repeatedly acted to foil his plans for rebuilding the walls (Neh 2:17-20); but despite their active opposition, Nehemiah succeeded in his building project, completing the work in 52 days (Neh chaps. 3-4), and stationed guards at the city gates and also enforced several of the laws, such as the payment due to the Levites, the observance of the Sabbath and the abolition of mixed marriages. He concluded his memoirs with a prayer to God to remember to his credit all of his efforts to strengthen divine law within Jerusalem . In order to repopulate Jerusalem, the number of whose inhabitants had dwindled greatly, he ordered that one out of every ten Jews should take up residence in the capital. He also instituted a series of religious and social reforms including the commitment to avoid intermarriage, the cancellation of debts owed by the poor, the support of the Temple cult, and the payment of tithes drawn up and sealed in a covenant (Neh chap. 10) and he then returned to Persia.
After Nehemiah was given the permission to go and rebuild the city we see that he had some leadership qualities which helped him in the rebuilding process. Let us look at some few leadership skills which helped to navigate Nehemiah in the rebuilding of the city.
Firstly and
References: Henrietta C. Mears, What the bible is all about, Gospel Light Publications, U.S.A, 1998. Holy bible, New Revised Standard, U.S.A, 1989 The Holy Bible, New International Version, The Bible Society in Australia Inc Publishers, 1984. Richard H. Seume, Nehemiah, God’s Builder, Moody Press, Chicago, U.S.A, 1978 HOW I WOULD APPLY NEHEMIAH’S LEADRSHIP SKILLS IN MY OWN LIFE Firstly the most important leadership skill Nehemiah had according to me is that he put God first and let him lead him through prayer so I would use this skill by talking to God before facing any situation and the reason I say this is an important leadership skill is because it is through this skill that we may get every other skill that follows. This way God will help you to do the task at hand. Also we see that also had something important and that was courage, so this helps me because I know courage is an important quality in a leader so I ask God for courage when tackling my tasks. Another thing is that I have to be determined to complete the task so that incase there as may occur any push back determination will lead you into completing the task and to do it well too. Something else that had was his vision we should also have vision in the work we are doing and we should like Nehemiah notice that the work we are doing has a higher purpose that what we look at directly, we can see that Nehemiah was not only rebuilding the walls but in depth was serving the lord and getting it ready for the messiah Jesus Christ. Another aspect in Nehemiah’s leadership qualities is his submitting to authority this shows we should respect and follow authority and not act like we are above it. We should also look at Nehemiah’s quality of self organization this shows me that in order for me to be a good leader or perform a task at my level best I should plan for my work as this will help you in accomplishing your goal. Another quality that Nehemiah displayed was passion, we should this to make us also have passion and this means we should have heart on what we do and do it with satisfaction. Again we see that Nehemiah was evaluative this means we should also follow this example by evaluating situation before jumping into conclusions and fully assessing them doing this will help you to perform the job effectively. Another thing is that like Nehemiah we should also entrust others with work this is done by delegating jobs to others tis shows that you trust them and this improves relation among workers. In many times there are always bad news so we need to know how to handle the bad news and we should talk to God to help us cope with them. As leaders we should inspire camaraderie among people this will strengthen our bonds and be able to look out for each other. To better ourselves using Nehemiah’s leadership quality of sharing what we have with others makes us better people and we should not look down upon people but treat them equally. In motivating others, we must always present the challenge and the benefit. I find that people really love to be challenged, to push the envelope and do what looks difficult or impossible. Presented in the right way, it will motivate people to join. And lastly as Nehemiah did, we should stand firm on core values and not be swayed to do the wrong things that would not please God but do God’s will.