A Lesson in Leadership

A Lesson in Leadership Nehemiah 2:6-20 Scripture: 6 And the king said to me (the queen sitting beside him), How long will you be gone, and when will you return? So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time. 7 And I said to the king, If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah, 8 and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy. And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me. 9 Then I came to the governors of the province Beyond the River and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen. 10 But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel. 11 So I went to Jerusalem and was there three days. 12 Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. And I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. There was no animal with me but the one on which I rode. 13 I went out by night by the Valley Gate to the Dragon Spring and to the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by fire. 14 Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King's Pool, but there was no room for the animal that was under me to pass. 15 Then I went up in the night by the valley and inspected the wall, and I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned. 16 And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, and I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest who were to do the work. 17 Then I said to them, You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision. 18 And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for the good work. 19 But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they jeered at us and despised us and said, What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king? 20 Then I replied to them, The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we his servants will arise and build, but you have no portion or right or claim[a] in Jerusalem. Introduction: What is leadership? What do leaders do? Simply stated, leadership is the act of leading. Leaders lead. A leader without followers is like a solitary man (or woman) out for a stroll. But, that is too simple. Here are a few leadership quotes: 1

1. Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy. Norman Schwarzkopf 2. Where there is no vision, the people perish. Proverbs 29:18 3. The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant. Max De Pree 4. Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it. General Dwight Eisenhower 5. Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate, and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand. General Colin Powell 6. A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves. Lao Tzu There are many definitions of leadership. These were from The 100 Best Quotes on Leadership (http://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2012/10/16/quotes-on-leadership/). Here is a good working definition of leadership: Leadership is the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what needs to be done and how it can be done effectively, and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives. Gary Yukl (Leadership in Organizations, 5 th ed., 2002, 7) Robert Greenleaf, the father of modern servant-leadership theory, lists 10 traits of servant-leaders (Focus on Leadership, edited by Larry Spears and Michele Lawrence, 2002, 5-8): 1. Listening 2. Empathy 3. Healing 4. Awareness 5. Persuasion 6. Conceptualization 7. Foresight 8. Stewardship 9. Commitment to the growth of people 10. Building community. In this passage, and on into chapter 3, we see how Nehemiah led his people to rebuild the walls and gates of Jerusalem. In Nehemiah 2:6-20, we see at least five elements of leadership: 1. Nehemiah had a clear vision of what needed to be done 2. He anticipated problems and opposition 3. He accurately assessed the situation 4. He got the buy-in of the people (built consensus) 5. He effectively dealt with opposition You may see many other leadership characteristics, but we will concentrate on these five, how they impacted Nehemiah s task, and how they relate to rebuilding The Living Road. Lesson Proposition: We at The Road, need to understand the beginning of leadership. 2

Discussion Points: I. The Vision (Nehemiah 2:6-9): Proverb 29:18 declares: Where there is no vision, the people perish. Is having a vision the beginning of leadership? Probably not, but it is crucial for any leader. In Nehemiah s lesson on leadership, it is the first step or is it? Before vision, Nehemiah became broken over the plight of his people. H had a passion for going to Jerusalem, repairing the walls, and replacing the gates of the city (Nehemiah 1:1-4). His brokenness led him to fervent prayer before God (Nehemiah 1:5-11). Then he seized the opportunity to accomplish the task for which he had such passion (Nehemiah 2:1-5). Are leaders born to leadership or created by situations they face? That is a continuous debate among leadership theorists, which is beyond the scope of our discussion here. Was Nehemiah already a leader, who God prepared for this task? Possibly; he was already a high ranking official in the court of the Persian king Artaxerxes. Or, did he become a leader of his people because God gave him a vision to rebuild the walls and gates of the city of Jerusalem? You decide. Nehemiah 2:6-20, however, provides an excellent lesson for the beginning of leadership, particularly servant leadership. For Nehemiah was a servant of his people. A. In Bro. Kelly s sermon, he mentioned four things that are important to a leader s vision for his task found in Nehemiah 2:6-9. Can you name them? 1. 2. 3. 4. B. Is having a vision for the task important to leadership? Why or why not? C. Is it important that one s vision comes from God? If you answered yes, what about secular organizations? Does, or should, their vision come from God? D. In Nehemiah s case, his vision originated in a passion for God s people and in a desire to glorify and show the power of God by reestablishing His physical kingdom on earth. How important is it for a leader to redirect the attention of followers from the steps involved in accomplishing a task to the purpose (or calling) behind the task? 3

II. What Opposition Will I Face (Nehemiah 2:10)? A second characteristic of leadership we find in Nehemiah 2 is foresight, or awareness. Leaders possess a keen sense of the reality of a situation: they can anticipate opportunities, difficulties, and opposition and resistance and conflict always accompany effective leadership. Leaders not only anticipate these things, they take action to deal with them successfully, whether they be potential opportunities or problems. We see this in Nehemiah 2:6-9 in the way Nehemiah asks the king for letters of instruction to the governors beyond the Euphrates. It culminates in verse 10, when direct opposition to Nehemiah s project is voiced. The question this verse poses to each of us at The Road is, what will be the opposition I face as a leader in my community? A. In his sermon, Bro. Kelly mentioned two groups and two individuals who were potential opponents of Nehemiah s task. Can you name them? 1. 2. 3. 4. B. While the king assisted Nehemiah in completing the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, he was definitely a potential adversary. How do we know this? C. In Bro. Kelly s last two sermons, he has drawn a direct correlation between the king and the people of DeSoto. The people of our community, like the king, can assist our attempts to rebuild The Road or foil them. How do we anticipate the opposition of our kings and make them our allies? Please explain. D. It is easy to anticipate the opposition of outsiders community leaders, non-christians, regulators, even other religious leaders in the community but how do we, as members of The Road, sometimes present our own roadblocks to rebuilding our church? E. The most difficult concept with which to deal in the area of anticipating opposition and taking action to overcome it is when a leader herself or himself resists the process. This may be the result of internal psychological or emotional struggles or uncertainty about the value of one s personal task. We see this in Nehemiah 2:12 when Nehemiah sneaks out of the city for a late-night inspection of the walls. How can we, as leaders of The Road, sabotage our own efforts to rebuild the Living Road? What kind of precautions can we take to keep ourselves from doing harm to our own efforts? 4

III. What Do I Need to Accomplish this Vision from God (Nehemiah 2:11-18)? In these verse, we encounter several leadership characteristics: assessment, consensus-building, decision-making, problem-solving, redirecting attention from the problem to the greatness of the solution, building people up, healing, creating cohesiveness in the group, and serving others. You may even see other leadership traits in the passage. We will focus on two of them: accurately assessing the situation and gaining the buy-in of the people. In these verses, we see Nehemiah make his nighttime inspection of the damage to the walls, formulate his plan for rebuilding them, and present his plan to the people. In verse 18, Nehemiah helps the people catch his vision by explaining that it came from God Himself. He inspires the people to action A. What do we need to accomplish the task God gives us? Bro. Kelly mentioned four things in his sermon. Please name them. 1. 2. 3. 4. B. Of these four, which needs to come first? Why did you answer as you did? C. Why is it crucial to know the proper first step? Sometimes we jump past step one. Does doing so create a problem? Why or why not? Please explain your answer. D. Nehemiah knew he needed to assess the situation accurately, develop a plan of action, and build a consensus among the people if Jerusalem (get buy-in). And all of this was predicated on prayer (see Nehemiah 1:4-11; 2:4). Is this a leadership model that is useful to The Road? Is it necessary to access the situation, formulate a plan, and get buy-in before we begin the rebuilding process? If so, is it efficient? Is following this model difficult? Why or why not? IV. What do We do When Opposition Arises (Nehemiah 2:19-20) An important attribute of successful leaders is that they deal with opposition. Sometimes they are marginalized. At other times, opponents seek to distract them, often through flattery or by appealing to their passion or pet project. A leader may even be rejected or resisted outright, emotionally, psychologically, or even physically. Leadership can even be dangerous; look at Jesus, Abraham 5

Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., and other leaders who have actually lost their lives. Leaders anticipate conflict and deal with it effectively. Sometimes they circumvent it, sometimes they mitigate it, and sometimes they address it head on. Whichever way a leader deals with opposition, he or she must accept the consequences of her or his decision. A. Bro. Kelly named four areas of opposition that effective leaders must anticipate and deal with when they arise. Can you name them? 1. 2. 3. 4. B. Why do people complain? C. Can leaders resolve every complaint? If not, how do effective leaders deal with them? D. Sometimes criticism and complaints are legitimate. Other times they are a distraction to the leader and to God s plan. How can we tell the difference? E. If our leaders are obedient to the will of God and looking out for the best interests of The Living Road, by what authority does the world resist us? Does this exempt us from falling under the authority of our local government and civic leaders? Why or why not? V. Conclusion: The first four lessons in Nehemiah were tough! They were designed to get The Road to face the enormity of task of rebuilding before us and admit that we have, at times, actually been part of the problem. We have had to deal with this by asking ourselves, Why would I even get involved in rebuilding The Living Road? Then we had to look at a proper way to appeal to God for success. Then we had to admit the difficulty of continuing to trust God even when we don t see or feel Him at work. The good news is that, starting with this lesson in leadership, we start dealing with the positive aspects of getting ourselves right with God. We can now start focusing on how we turn this thing around. We must have a vision; anticipate obstacles, assess the situation accurately, formulate a plan, and gain consensus; and deal with opposition (and opportunities) when they arise positively. If we do so, God will bless, and The Road will be rebuilt. Not only will restoration take place, but the best years of our church lie ahead. Now, that, is an exciting thought! 6