Connection
Next to him Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs. Also next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers, made repairs… And next to them Rephaiah the son of Hur, leader of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs… And next to him was Shallum the son of Hallohesh, leader of half the district of Jerusalem; he and his daughters made repairs… And between the upper room at the corner, as far as the Sheep Gate, the goldsmiths and the merchants made repairs. – Nehemiah 3:8-12, 32
Another leadership lesson that jumps at us from Nehemiah’s leadership playbook is connection; that is a leader’s ability to connect with people of various statuses and persuade them to collaborate with him in achieving his set objectives.
Yesterday we saw how Nehemiah did not achieve 100% signup rate in enlisting everyone to join the work of rebuilding the walls and city of Jerusalem. But before then, we have also established that he was able to mobilize a very large number of the people to join, and only a handful abstained. Our meditation yesterday was therefore on how he managed the dissents without creating a bad blood or disrupting the flow of work.
Today, our meditation shall be on how he was able to connect with people across different social statuses to join him in the work. The Bible mentions some specific demography he was able to persuade to join him, people that ordinarily would not have participated at all. We read about goldsmiths, perfumers, leaders of district, daughters, and merchants all teaming up with Nehemiah.
How he was able to enlist these professionals and demography is a lesson in leadership. But from what we have meditated on before, we can see that Nehemiah was more than an average leader. He was someone very vested in his mission and the passionate way he went about fulfilling it coupled with his drive was infectious enough to motivate others to join even when they had their hands full attending to their own primary vocation.
A leader who would make a lasting impact must be able to connect to people of various backgrounds and diverse interests. She must be committed to open communication and engagement which would help her earn trust and gain the commitment of her own lieutenants and the generality of people across different socioeconomic statuses. Nehemiah got this right. With Jesus on your side, you should be able to do the same.
You Will Succeed in Jesus Name!
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