I remember when I enlisted in the Air Force and arrived at my first assignment, Altus Air Force, Oklahoma. I had been there a year or so, when my supervisor handed me a copy of the Professional Military Examination Study Guide. It was over 600 pages of information ranging from Air Force history, to command structure, to uniform standards, to military justice, to standards of conduct, and everything in between. One of the chapters dealt specifically with leadership, including development, philosophy, styles, etc. I will always remember the definition of leadership given in that book – very rudimentary. “The art of influencing others.” Two things come to my mind when I recall that definition. First, leadership is an art. It is intuitive, relies on human experiences. Second, “others” are involved. That simply means you need to understand that, as a leader, your words, your actions, your decisions affect the lives of others…and you better not take that lightly.
Quick recap from last week. We were introduced to Nehemiah, the cupbearer to the king. He finds out Jerusalem is in shambles and the people are living in horrible conditions. He asks, and is granted permission from the king, to travel to the city and rebuild it. So, he heads out, but not before obtaining letters signed by the king, giving him permission to traverse through the region without fear of attack. He also gets permission to requisition timber from the king’s forest to use in construction projects.
Nehemiah travels 900 miles from Shushan to Jerusalem. What would take us half a day in a car, took Nehemiah three months on a pack animal. Not a pleasant thought…or experience. Talk about a sore backside, and don’t get me started on the chafing. But he makes the journey, because the situation in Jerusalem demanded it. What happens next is where I want to camp out for this chapter.
Nehemiah arrives in Jerusalem (again, after a three-month journey) and absorbs what he sees before giving a single order. If you are in a leadership position, let that sink in for a moment. He arrives and takes some time…the Bible says three days…before making any kind of decision. This is strategic visioning at its finest. The worst thing a leader can do is show up with no understanding of what the situation is, and start giving orders to individuals to do this or that. It creates chaos. Great leaders observe before saying a word. That is what Nehemiah does. He shows up, spends three days praying and listening to the people that are actually living there, puts on his night-vision goggles, and takes a midnight ride through the city, scoping out the landscape and seeing where all the damage lay. Now, if you are not careful, you will overlook a few critical words in these verses that describe Nehemiah’s nighttime journey. Nehemiah, painting the scene, says, “Then I arose in the night, I and a few good men…. This is the second takeaway from this blog chapter. Great leaders surround themselves with a few trusted individuals. Preferably, those who have strengths that you do not have…that can see through your blind spots…that you can trust with your life. I worked for a two-star general during my time in the Pentagon, and he worked for the Chief of Staff of the Air Force…the number 1 guy. I remember my boss telling me that if General Welsh (the Chief of Staff at the time) showed up at his house in the middle of the night and needed his car keys, he would hand them over without thinking, no questions. I thought to myself…that is what absolute trust looks like. That is the kind people you need to surround yourself with…the kind that if they showed up at your door at 2:00 in the morning and asked to borrow your car, you would hand the keys over to them without thinking. A few good men.
Last thing for this week. Nehemiah has gone out, again with a few good men (cannot emphasize this enough), and now he comes back and gives his report to the people. Nehemiah isn’t dumb. He knows he cannot take the task on by himself; he is going to need a lot of help. The moment is palpable. It is thick with anticipation. People have gathered, closing in around this mysterious guy who showed up a few days ago. Everyone is holding their breath. Nehemiah grabs the megaphone. “The city lies in waste, the gates are burned, and we are in great distress.” He accurately describes the scene…doesn’t sugarcoat it…presents the plan…and gets the buy-in from the people. Notice what their response was; “Let us rise up and build.” Also notice what their response wasn’t; “Who does this guy think he is? He can’t just waltz in and expect us to just do what he says.” No, they have been waiting for someone. Anyone. A leader who could figure out what needed to be done. A leader with authority. A leader with compassion. A leader able to see the vision of “what will be” in the midst of the “what it is now”. But, if you are like me, you might be asking yourself…Didn’t anyone already there have the ability to step up? I don’t know. Apparently not. I don’t know if every individual in the city was too busy feeling sorry for themselves, or if they were overwhelmed by the sheer destruction, or if they were spending every waking moment playing Call of Duty on their X-Box, plotting out their special ops mission to exact revenge on those who destroyed Jerusalem. Whatever they were focused on, it didn’t involve putting the city back together. So, Nehemiah does what no one else thinks of doing. After all, he is a leader with a plan…compassion…and a vision.
Midnight rides. They are not unique to Nehemiah and his small posse. Paul Revere ring a bell? William Dawes? Samuel Prescott? Young Samuel rode the same night Paul made that famous traverse across the countryside. While the more famous Revere was captured by British forces, Prescott got away by jumping his horse over a stone wall, riding on to warn the residents of Concord and beyond. Because of his not so famous ride through the night, the farmers and other residents armed up the militia and stopped the British advance. Knowing they were beat after intense fighting, the British retreated back to Boston. The rag-tag bunch had won the night…thanks to the little less known ride of Samuel Prescott.
Want to know more about midnight riders? Check out my blog from January 27, 2022, titled “I’ve got to ride, ride like the wind.” Until next time…
Faith, Leadership, and History 