We have seen that an effective leader has a right relationship to God and to earthly supervisors (the “boss”). Nehemiah succeeded, and his success shows how we too can succeed in “middle management.” We see in Nehemiah chapter two some keys to his success.
The story does not make a great point of Nehemiah’s loyalty to King Artaxerxes, but Nehemiah’s whole demeanor as well as his success presupposes it. When the king asked why Nehemiah’s face looked sad and he replied with the expected court greeting, “May the king live forever!” it was not hypocrisy or even mere formality. Nehemiah genuinely seems to have had the king’s interests at heart.
Peter Drucker says that the right sort of loyalty is to the advantage of the middle manager as well as his boss:
“Contrary to popular legend, subordinates do not, as a rule, rise to position and prominence over the prostrate bodies of incompetent bosses. If their boss is not promoted, they will tend to be bottled up behind him. And if their boss is relieved for incompetence or failure, the successor is rarely the bright, young man next in line. He usually is brought in from the outside and brings with him his own bright, young men. Conversely, there is nothing quite as conducive to success, as a successful and rapidly promoted superior.”
This is not promoting a false or sinful loyalty, of course. To be loyal does not mean that we are to appear loyal when we are actually opposed to what is happening, or that we are loyally to support wrong actions. It merely means that as long as we are working for someone we must be loyal to them. If we cannot be loyal, we should seek service elsewhere.
Another key is tact. We speak about tact often, yet more often we fail to exercise it. We think it is more needful to “speak our minds,” “express our frustrations,” or “let them know how we feel!” Notice how tactful Nehemiah was with Artaxerxes.
First, when the king asked why he was sad, Nehemiah answered with a disarming question. “Why should my face not look sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” This question, instead of making Artaxerxes defensive, actually won him to Nehemiah’s side. The king understood that Nehemiah had cause to be sad and wanted to help him.
Second, Nehemiah presented his desire as a personal matter and not as a political one. He knew that what he wanted would require the reversal of Artaxerxes’ former public policy, and he understood that any request to fortify a city was suspicious. So he did not treat this as a political issue at all. He treated it as a matter of personal grief, which the king, who was proud of his own city and who also had his own ancestors, would understand.
It is worth mentioning also, that although Nehemiah asked for permission to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, he nowhere actually mentioned Jerusalem by name. He referred to it as “the city where my fathers are buried” and “the city in Judah.”
It is a simple point but a good one. As Dale Carnegie expressed it, “If you want to gather honey, don’t kick over the beehive.”
To be tactful does not mean that one is to be insincere. Nehemiah exhibited honesty in his encounter with the king in a couple of ways:
First, when the king asks why Nehemiah is sad, he replies with two absolutely accurate statements, one directed to the reader (in the narrative) and the other to the king. To the reader he admits, “I was very much afraid.” No false bravado here. To the king he replies that he is sad because the city of his fathers is in ruins.
We know this is what was really bothering Nehemiah. Before, when he was first told about the city’s condition, Nehemiah “sat down and wept … mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.” Four to five months later when he was asked the reason for his sadness, he was honest. He did not try to invent a more acceptable reason for it.
When the king did ask what Nehemiah wanted, Nehemiah told him. He did not pretend that he wanted to take a vacation to Jerusalem or merely look over the city. From the first, he told the king he wanted to rebuild it.
This is very important. A good leader is willing to have those who work under him develop their own programs, but he does not want to be surprised by the plans of subordinates. Subordinates want their own plans to succeed, but the boss is responsible not only for the subordinate’s plan but also for the success of the entire operation. He needs to know what is going on and to be able to approve, disapprove, or redirect those plans according to the larger picture.
Here is a secret: If you want to succeed with your boss, do not surprise them. Be creative but be sure they are with you as you plow along. Nehemiah was loyal, tactful and honest.
Maranatha!
(mar-uh-nath-uh – “Our Lord Comes”)
Pastor Steve can be reached at PastorSteve@MaranathaBibleChurch.org