Nehemiah’s Leadership Playbook: Mobilization (1)

Mobilization

Then I said to them, “You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach.” And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and also of the king’s words that he had spoken to me. So they said, “Let us rise up and build.” Then they set their hands to this good work. – Nehemiah 2:17-18

From Nehemiah we also learn the lesson of mobilization as a requisite of great leadership. Just as we have seen in our previous meditations on Nehemiah’s playbook, leadership skills are concentric and interrelated, one attribute usually leads to another, and each needs to be mastered in progression toward the others, not in isolation. A burden for people should naturally progress to agitation, which in turn should lead to advocacy, mission, discretion and needs assessment.

The principle we are considering today is the art of mobilization which Nehemiah seemed to have mastered so well, as he did not have to talk for long before the people rose to get on the work of reconstruction that he asked them. Meanwhile, even though he did not have to talk for so long to get them to buy into his mission, it was the way he articulated his request to them that is worthy of our attention in this meditation and that which we shall focus on.

There are three sub lessons that stand out in Nehemiah’s speech which we shall focus on in the next two days, these are imagery, collectiveness and patronage.

• Imagery

Nehemiah started his address to the people by saying, “Then I said to them, “You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire” (Nehemiah 2:17). Obviously, the people he was talking to had experienced the devastation firsthand and did not need to be told about it. But by replaying the pathetic scenario in their minds again, Nehemiah was able to stir up something in them that wanted to fix the problem and rebuild their land.

Note also that Nehemiah was the one who came from a distant place, and he did not experience the afflictions that befell the people and their land. Also, they kept living in the land the way it was and did not think much about rebuilding it. But after Nehemiah replayed the devastation to them in his remarks, they were provoked to action such that they rallied to join him in the work. That is mobilization. It is a very important skill for any leader to have.

To be continued…

You Will Succeed in Jesus Name!

Also read:

• Nehemiah’s Leadership Playbook: Needs Assessment
• The Prodigal Couple
• To Guard Against the Monsters in My Life, I Became a Monster Myself