Nehemiah on Leadership

I Can't Come Down

Shelley M. Fisher Ph.D

• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781644166741
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Leadership in Religion

In a time when leadership seems to be in the throes of despair, Nehemiah's leadership journey is refreshing. At the onset of the book that bears his name he is serving, exemplary leaders serve. The book depicts the ethical dimensions of leadership, as Nehemiah shows compassion for the plight of his people because the walls were down, putting them in imminent danger. We learn that effective leaders do not compromise their values, and they confront improprieties both within and outside of the organization.Nehemiah displayed many attributes of an effective leader""risk-taker, for example. The law of the land forbade a person from going before the king with a sad countenance; however, Nehemiah, the risk-taker, prayed and received favor from the king despite his sad countenance. In surmounting the challenge of rebuilding the walls, he demonstrates the role of the administrator by: -Praying;-Planning;-Goal-setting and strategizing;-Using excellent communication skills;-Team building; and-Mediating conflict.Nehemiah demonstrates how to deal with conflict. Since conflict is inevitable, it is important for leaders to know how to resolve it. I Can't Come Down displays Nehemiah's focus and perseverance on the task.He shows how to structure tasks with diverse groups""mayors, priests, people of all backgrounds, including women""worked collectively to accomplish the completion of the walls in fifty-two days.The ageless principles of leadership comingle with contemporary organizational theory. Albert Bandura highlights agency, self-efficacy, collective and leadership efficacy as key factors in motivation. Organizational theorists view leaders today through the five lenses of motivation, communication, politics, structure, and design.Finally, the reader is challenged to become proactive in his own community by participation, persuasion, and prayer. The concept of positive deviance is suggested as viable for solving problems in neighborhoods. It is a misnomer to think in terms of sacred and secular, for God is Creator of everything.

Chapter 1

Nehemiah—Cupbearer to the King

Nehemiah, a man of humble beginnings, is described at the onset of the book that bears his name as the son of Hacaliah, and cupbearer to the king. He resided in the seat of governmental authority—the king’s palace among royalty; the higher echelon—surrounded by comfort and luxury. Yet in his role as wine taster, protector, and loyalist to the king, his heart was broken when his brother, Hannai, told him of the plight of his people and their vulnerability of being open to attack because the walls of Jerusalem were burned down.

This book of the Bible is replete with entities that align with organizational leadership and social cognitive theory. For example, Nehemiah’s actions portray middle management as a servant leader. Social cognitive theorists might say he displayed agency and was adept in leader efficacy. Nehemiah’s character and leadership skills qualify him to be a paradigm for teaching ageless principles of leadership.

He was a Jew who was displaced in Persia because of being taken into captivity as a slave. His name means Yahweh comforts. The events of this book took place about 423 BC after the Jews had returned from captivity in Babylon. Prior to this, some seventy years ago, the Jews had attempted to rebuild the wall but to no avail. Some scholars say this book was written by Nehemiah or Ezra. Others say this is a book of Nehemiah’s memoirs.

Early in the narrative, we learned Nehemiah not only has a relationship with the natural king but with the King of kings—his God. His inner conflict surfaced in his sad countenance and his prayers reeked of anguish as he turned inwardly to pray. His love for his people and his homeland were on display as he risked his life by going before the king with a sad countenance. It was believed that one could be put to death by going before the king in this manner. The depth of his relationship with the king is suggested as the king notices Nehemiah is not his usual self.

Nehemiah said, “I had never been sad in his (the king’s) presence before” (Nehemiah 2:1 NKJ). In general, people don’t take risks if they don’t feel safe. Nehemiah and the king had a relationship; however, he felt uneasy going before the king to request something for which the king had vehemently denied in times past—the rebuilding of the walls (Ezra 4 NKJ). Their interchange of words showed they understood each other which leads us to surmise there was a close relationship because the king asked, “Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart.” The scripture ended with Nehemiah saying,

So I became dreadfully afraid and said to the king, May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?

Then the king said to me, “What do you request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.”

Deeply held beliefs that guide people’s behavior and tell members how to perceive a situation are called assumptions. Edgar Schein (1985) said that these assumptions are at the deepest fundamental level of the organization—the essence of its culture. A characteristic of an assumption is that a member is behaving in such a way as to violate this assumption is unthinkable. Another factor is that assumptions are often unconscious. At times, organizational members are not aware of their assumptions and are unable to change them. It seemed Nehemiah was intentional in his risk of going before the king with a sad countenance.

Nelson and Quick (2013) suggested that unconscious assumptions may guide a firm’s actions, but some companies are explicit in their assumptions about their employees. They give an example of a data storage and solution company that adhered to the philosophy of treating employees fairly to counter the need for excessive rules.

The propensity to separate life into the sacred and the secular is commonplace. This separation creates fragmentation instead of the whole. During the week you go to your secular job, and on the weekend you go to worship and participate in the sacred. Life was never intended for delineation into these two categories. The Bible, our reference, is teeming with stories of people and their jobs—tentmakers, silversmiths, fishermen, wardrobe keepers, farmers, lawyers, etc. There is the tendency to refer to the work of the pastors, priests, and fivefold ministry gifts as sacred, while viewing the fisherman, clerks, engineers, and lawyers as secular.

There are drawbacks to this kind of thinking on separation. Writers and theorists opine that work, by its very nature, is holy. If the sacred and secular could comingle in the workforce, what collegiality and productivity would result! This kind of action would dispel drudgery, and people would enjoy work and produce more. Other benefits would be happy workers who would be more innovative and creative.

This treatise will add a new slant to studying Nehemiah’s leadership drawing from organizational leadership theory—a blended discipline from psychology, sociology, engineering, anthropology, and management. Social cognitive theory and management will be the foci from organizational leadership. Five dimensions of leadership—motivation, communication, politics, structure, and design—comprise the heuristic for this study of leadership. Age-old principles of leadership found in the book of Nehemiah will be examined from a spiritual perspective and, where applicable, these principles will be viewed through the lenses of management and social cognitive theories. The content areas will focus on leadership—improving workplace behavior and efficiency.

What, in the book of Nehemiah, can be used for a study of leadership today? Because of his background in the context of today, Nehemiah may have been given one of the disparaging labels often ascribed to people of lower socioeconomic status—at risk or disadvantaged. He is motivated by the condition of his people. He is an empathizer, exceptional organizer, problem solver, change agent, encourager to the people, and more.

This administrator became one of the most prominent leaders in biblical history, with his actions being used as a blueprint to mentor leaders of today. Nehemiah is known as the administrator, and rightly so, as demonstrated by his ability to get the walls of Jerusalem rebuilt. He was an accelerator rebuilding the walls in fifty-two days in the face of adversity. Today, we need leaders who are exemplars to demonstrate character and empathy toward people. We need leaders who are participatory and producers in their environment and role models for youth.

According to Habericht (2000), for the last several decades, Christian psychologists recognizing that truth and error comingle in psychology have wrestled with the issue of integration of psychology and Christianity. As a clinical psychologist, she reported that it is no longer taboo to talk about religious and spiritual intervention in client work.

In conjunction with the above, Habericht notes that psychologists have identified some terms that sound distinctly religious—forgiveness; altruistic service instead of self-centeredness; and self- respect instead of self-esteem. Thinking in these and other areas have been altered so that they align closer with the Bible. Psychology can help to identify deviant behavior in the workplace.

Because of the turbulent times we live in, we need the Nehemiah kind of leadership. The twenty-first century is being shaped by speed and technology, the influx of knowledge workers, and a global and multicultural workplace. New organizational designs reflect changes in communication and decision-making—all facilitated by technology. Yet the ethics of leaders seem to be on a downward spiral in a quagmire of duplicity. The social fabric of our cities has deteriorated and is characterized by unrest in our cities, families, and government. More than ever, leaders are needed to assume the role of problem solver and to demonstrate ethical behavior. Discontent is looming in our institutions—education, business, church, and community.

Effective leaders are needed to protect our values and standards as a nation, and to prevent further erosion to our institutions and decadence to society in general.

Highlights:

• Nehemiah’s priority was prayer;
• God honors prayer and is a God of relationship;
• Nehemiah continued to serve during adversity. Serving aligns with God’s Word, “The gre...