Nehemiah’s Leadership Playbook: Mobilization (3)

Mobilization: Patronage

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 2:18

Another lesson we can from Nehemiah as part of his people mobilization strategy was patronage. Nehemiah was able to elicit the kind of cooperation he enjoyed from his compatriots because of the patronage he had.

At that time, the land of Judah and its people were under the imperial rule of the kingdom of Persia, and there was little they could do on their own to rebuild the ruins of their cities without official permission from the king of Persia, no matter how much they wanted to do it.

Meanwhile, in demonstrating foresight, Nehemiah had already obtained official leave from King Artaxerxes to rebuild the city of Jerusalem and even had the approval to use the king’s resources for the project, particularly timbers from the king’s forest. This made his work in persuading the people to join the project much easier, as he had already done the needful by obtaining the approval that would guarantee their safety rather than endanger their lives.

Patronage is an important leverage a leader must have to be able to carry out a reform or make a sweeping change. Many a leader have had their disruptive innovations truncated because they did not have the necessary buy-in from important stakeholders whose support would have proved pivotal to the success of their initiative. A leader who must rally people with a measure of success must be able to convince them to join his train by presenting them the leverages she has that would guarantee their safety and enhance the success of her programs. This is not about making empty promises or giving motivational talks with no substance to validate her claims.

Nehemiah did a lot of things right and was strategic in his approach both to leadership, project management and civic engagement. This played a major role in enhancing his success. For you to record similar success in your leadership endeavors, you need to be like minded.

You Will Succeed in Jesus Name!

Also read:

• Nehemiah’s Leadership Playbook: Mobilization (2)
• Excess and Excuses
• Wait For HIM, Don’t Settle for Less