Leadership

Put People First

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The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. It came to pass in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the citadel, that Hanani one of my brethren came with men from Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, “The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.” (Nehemiah 1:1-3 NKJV)

Before setting out to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, Nehemiah’s chief concern was for the people in Jerusalem at that time. His passion was for the “great distress and reproach” and the wall just happened to be “also broken down”. This may come as a surprise but the book of Nehemiah isn’t about rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. It’s actually more about making reforms in the lives of the Israelites. 

More than half the book is dedicated to chronicling Nehemiah’s efforts to restore a God centered culture among the people. The rebuilding of the walls was necessary to create a controlled environment where deep change and transformation could take place. As a leader, Nehemiah put people and their greatest needs first. Leaders today must do the same in order to be successful. 
 
The people we lead may be team members, family, employees and staff, or customers and clients. Regardless of where we lead them or the personal goals we have for leading them, we must remind ourselves to put them first. We may have a goal to grow a ministry through our leadership but the people we lead also have a goal to fulfill their spiritual purpose in our ministries. We may want to increase sales for products and services at our businesses, but we can’t forget the customers and clients make purchases to fulfill their own needs. The focus must always remain on the people, not profits. 

We have a responsibility to lead those on our teams to opportunities for success and fulfillment. We can lead customers and clients to helpful products, services, and solutions. Our programs and strategies are only vehicles designed to carry people to the place where their needs can be met. Once they reach their goals through our leadership, they will help us fulfill our goals. 

Time and Planning

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The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. It came to pass in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the citadel, (Nehemiah 1:1 NKJV)

And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before. (Nehemiah 2:1 NKJV)

It Takes Time to Plan Well
In the Jewish month Chislev Nehemiah heard about the conditions in Jerusalem. He fasted, prayed, and planned. Four months later in the month Nisan he stood before the king, shared his plan in detail, and received what he needed to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem. Let that sink in. He took four months to plan a strategy that allowed him to lead the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem in a miraculous 52 days with ancient construction methods and mostly unskilled labor. 

The level of success we experience in our projects, events, and initiatives is directly proportional to the amount of time we spend in quality planning. Last minute, knee jerk, rapid fire planning causes us to lean more on talent than excellence. I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t want to rely on talent alone because deep down inside I know I’m just not that talented. Quality, strategic planning gives us the ability to position people and resources to make up for our flaws as well as take advantage of opportunities. 

What are some other advantages of time and planning?

A Prayer for Leaders

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Lord,

Empower your leaders with personal integrity. Let their authenticity cause others to trust in their leadership. Give them a desire to become leaders worth following. Give them the energy and physical wellness necessary to carry out their daily responsibilities. Grant them healthy habits in life and work. Help them find positive techniques for dealing with stress. Teach them to embrace seasons of rest.

Help them to nurture their families. Surround them with genuine, dependable, and honest friends. Bring balance in their lives. Remove blemishes in their character and vices in their lifestyles. Grant them passionate tenacity for their leadership coupled with sincere personal humility.

Remind them of their humanity even as they work with their teams to complete projects that are greater than themselves. Instill in them the necessity of personal development. Put people, resources, and opportunities in their path to build their leadership abilities. Inspire them to be life long learners as leaders.

Give them genuine care and concern for the people they lead. Give them versatility to lead unique personalities across cultural barriers and multiple generations of workers. Give them the courage to develop other leaders without fear of losing their positions. Help them to not be intimidated by those who appear to be more competent or talented than themselves. Let then acknowledge and face their insecurities while trusting in you, Lord.

Help them be moldable like children when faced with changes in their industries. Help them face challenges within their teams with hopeful resolve. Help them make their calling and purpose sure. Lord, lead your leaders to fulfill the visions you’ve purposed in their vocations. Make their organizations better because of their influence. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Be Great Followers

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Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. (Ephesians 6:5-8 NKJV)

One of my favorite coaches is Bill Parcels. He is a great leader who has turned around several NFL teams. He has enjoyed the personal success of winning two Super Bowls and was recently inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But more impressive is the success of his followers. Bill Belichick, Tom Coughlin, and Sean Payton all served under Parcels and were all given opportunities to be head coaches. All three of these coaches have gone on to win Super Bowls: Belichick (3), Coughlin (2), and Payton (1). Good followers like these coaches embrace the instruction and molding provided by their leaders.

In Ephesians 6 Paul stresses the importance of servants following well. He reveals how following well, even when the leader isn’t around, is representative of our service to Christ. In our world of managers and employees or leaders and staff members, the ability to follow well is an indicator of leadership potential. Great leaders are first great followers.

People who follow well exhibit respect for authority and buy-in to the leader’s vision. Leaders know they can trust these followers and may exercise that trust by delegating greater responsibilities to them. This benefits the leader because it increases their overall reach and influence. It benefits the follower by giving them tangible experiences. As the leader experiences more success, those who follow well will be given their own opportunities to lead.

Paul says “knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.” (Ephesians 6:8 NKJV) If we serve well, we will in turn be served well. If we support our leaders and make our teams successful, the same will happen for us when it’s our time to lead. If we follow our leaders well, we will find our efforts will make both the leader and ourselves successful.

How can following your leader contribute to your personal success?

Pick A Street

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Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images. (II Chronicles 34:1-3 NKJV)

While on vacation in another city, I ventured out to pick up breakfast for the family. As I listened to the directions from the GPS I looked over and noticed I’d passed the restaurant even though the GPS voice was still instructing me to keep my current course. Staying the course wouldn’t get me there. I needed to change course. All I needed to do was turn off the GPS, and pick a street where I could turn around.

Judah was headed toward destruction with poor leadership from previous kings. King Josiah knew his country wouldn’t rebound if they stayed on the path of idolatry. They needed to change course and serve The Lord. So Josiah chose the path his people needed to journey toward their recovery. Beginning with himself, he did what was right in the sight of The Lord and walked in the ways of David, a man after God’s heart.

Then Josiah did something to make change stick: he turned off the GPS (poor leadership from previous kings) and stayed focussed on the change. He didn’t get off the path to change. He didn’t turn to the right hand or the left. .

Many of us see the need for change in our personal, professional, and public lives. If we think we’re going to do what we’ve always done, better than before and see significant change, we’re insane. Doing what we’ve always done led us to the need for change but it will never lead to change itself. We need to pick a new street and turn off the flawed thinking and guidelines that got us here.

What new path do you need to choose? What ways of thinking do you need to turn off?

The Beginning of Change

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Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images. (II Chronicles 34:1-3 NKJV)

Josiah would eventually lead the greatest turnaround in the history of Judah. The country would change its spiritual direction away from idolatry and toward The Lord. Even though Josiah had positional authority to make any changes he desired, the true spark of change was ignited within himself first.

Leading change always starts within leaders who are changing.

Those who lead successful change in their families, communities, and organizations, understand they must develop themselves to make change stick. People can believe in change when they see leaders who are constantly striving to change for the better. Continual personal development ensures we will be leaders worth following.

At the age of sixteen Josiah began to develop himself by seeking God. By age twenty he began making changes to turn the kingdom around. What areas do you need to develop personally to help bring change to the organization or team you lead?

Prepared for Success

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It was fifteen years ago that I began to serve as an Associate Minister under the leadership of Reverend H. Frank Centrallo. After some preliminary conversations where he assessed my abilities, he mapped my plan of development with the following statement. “Domecia, you’re pretty proficient in your knowledge of scripture so I won’t be teaching … Read more

The Leader’s Point of View

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I’m on the road a lot and I give God thanks for my safety. On a weekly basis I find myself in situations where traffic on the interstate slows to a stop. The causes range from accidents and construction to fallen debris like sod, barrels, or furniture. One of the two lanes will get shut … Read more