As part of my project assignment in my graduate class, I am to develop a 10 part lesson on effective leadership. Two of those lessons are to be based on biblical models of leadership. I chose to do one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament. My Old Testament choice is Nehemiah. I have over the past few week done a lot of reading from Nehemiah . His leadership style centers around what we would probably today refer to as teams and transformational leadership.
Perhaps the greatest observation that can be made about him is his passion for what he was doing. Somewhere I read or heard, "Leaders are people who leave their footprints in their areas of passion." Who said that, I am not sure. But I liked the thought and wrote it in the leaf of my Bible. Nehemiah was passionate about restoring the walls of Jerusalem that had fallen in disrepair. He was also passionate about restoring the worship of God among the exiles who had returned to Jerusalem.
Nehemiah is a model of servant-leadership. This is so needed in our churches and in the world in which we live. People desire leaders who are authentic. Leadership is not about what I get out of leading others but what I am giving back to those who I am leading. Some of the qualities that Nehemiah models for us can be observed in his calling, concern, compassion, transparency, unselfishness, knowledge and understanding of his sitiuation, persistance, and inspiration.
A leader is a person who influences other people to accomplish a purpose. A person can be an effective leader without having a formal title or position of leadership. Some people can also occupy positions of leadership without truly leading.
Bill Gates said, "As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others." Be passionate about influencing others to be all that God intends them to be.
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