More Leadership from Nehemiah

Nehemiah 2:12-13.

“And I arose in the night, I and a few men with me, I did not tell any one what my God was putting into my mind to do for Jerusalem and there was no animal with me except the animal on which I was riding.

So I went out by night… inspecting the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were consumed with fire.”

Nehemiah took on the job of rebuilding the walls surrounding Jerusalem based on some intel he had received when he was in King Artaxerxes court. Shortly after he arrives in Jerusalem he makes a personal inspection of the wall at night… in secrecy. Nehemiah, as a great leader, recognizes that you can’t just rely on reports… you have to have on-the-ground information.

Too often leaders are inundated with information which is out of context, overstated, understated or just completely wrong. It is imperative that leaders carefully assess the problem and make sure to hear all the sides of the story before acting. Other wise we can make decisions based on faulty information that cause more harm than good.

In addition, Nehemiah gathered his intel in secrecy. Nehemiah had enemies… enemies from the outside and enemies from the inside. Sometimes it’s best not to reveal a plan of action until you have all your ducks lined up. Think about the number of times an idea has died in infancy because someone said… “that’s a stupid idea” or “that will never work”. Focus your energies in the planning and let the idea mature before you trot it out for public inspection. Leaders formulate solid plans based on solid information and then deal with obstacles as they arise.