I was reading the Leadership book called “Nehemiah.” (You can find it in the collection of writings called The Bible, HELLO!!). In it, Nehemiah is grabbed by a vision of rebuilding the walls that surrounded the then trashed city of Jerusalem. In chapter 3, he describes what portions of the wall were being built and by whom. Normally, I breeze through lists of people, but the other day, I chose to actually ready this boring list of names. In it, I learned about the people who are usually represented on every team that you lead.
On your team, there will be …
People you don’t expect. Several times, the priests are mentioned as putting their hands to work. Normally, they didn’t do this.
People who unexpectedly, work side by side. The priests worked shoulder to shoulder with people from other cities. This rarely was the case in everyday life.
People who simply won’t work with others. Verse 5 describes a group that refused to work with another group. You’ll get those attitudes as a leader and you’ll have to work around that objection.
People who ask others to help who normally wouldn’t be asked. One man repaired a section of the wall and enlisted the help of his daughters! In that culture, women weren’t thought of as manual or skilled laborers. But, in light of vision, all hands on deck!
People who are jealous for the work. That is how Baruch is mention in vs. 20. Nehemiah dare not stop this young man. He is described as repairing an additional portion of the wall.
People who will only do the minimum. Throughout the chapter, there are men who simply repaired the wall in front of their own house.
Lead these people well and who knows, you may build something that lasts thousands of years!
A Main lesson – when people get a picture of a compelling vision, they are willing to do whatever it takes to see it to reality.
In His Grip,
Pastor J
