I like to tie my learning to Biblical Principles. On Virtuous Leadership, I think about what leader in the Bible do I know that stands out as a virtuous leader. Although there are many, one that stands out to me is Nehemiah. Nehemiah’s brother and others said that they had been to Jerusalem and the Wall has been broken down, and the gates were burned. Nehemiah listened and took this news personally as if he was the wounded party. In other words, it broke his heart to hear this news.
He then took personal responsibility, prayed, and asked God to forgive him and his people for not obeying his commands. Then he took personal action, and at great danger to himself, he appeared before the King sad – remember that no King wants a sad cupbearer. When the King saw how sad Nehemiah was, he asked him why, and Nehemiah explained the state of his city walls and asked permission to go and fix them. He went and fixed the walls. He got involved in the work as a servant leader and getting the people what they needed. They had a city again with walls and a gate, and most importantly, they had protection!
We can see in this story that a servant leader is someone who takes personal responsibility for what has gone wrong and sets out to fix it, but not only does he/she fix the problem, the servant leader gets involved in the work and works alongside his workers to get the job done right. By doing so, the servant leader demonstrates his care for his workers and organization.
Share a story of a servant leader either in the Bible or someone you know.
