Codes for Christian Living
Be an Example Yourself
So we labored in the work, and half of the men held the spears from daybreak until the stars appeared. At the same time I also said to the people, “Let each man and his servant stay at night in Jerusalem, that they may be our guard by night and a working party by day.” So neither I, my brethren, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me took off our clothes, except that everyone took them off for washing.
—NEHEMIAH 4:21–23
Wise leaders know that they will never get people to follow their lead in the rebuilding process unless they lead by example themselves. This is exactly what Nehemiah did, and, by his own example, he encourages us to do so as well. Even though he omitted his own name in the exhaustive list of workers contained in chapter 3, Nehemiah was a true hands-on leader. He led by example, inspiring his people to work by getting his own hands dirty. He was right there beside them, sweating and working as diligently as any of them. We know this because of what he said in Nehemiah 4:21, 23: “So we labored in the work, and half of the men held the spears from daybreak until the stars appeared. . . . Neither I, my brethren, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me took off our clothes, except that everyone took them off for washing.”
Recently, while in the beautiful Texas Hill Country, I saw an example of this type of leadership when I witnessed a large flock of geese flying right over me in a V formation, headed south for the winter. There was one who led the way at the point of the formation, and I could hear the others honking encouragement to him as they journeyed along. I became so fascinated by the sight of them that I did some research and found some astonishing leadership principles. The fact is, those geese have a lot to teach us when it comes to leading by example.
First, geese fly in a V formation for a very specific, aerodynamic reason. Each bird, by flapping its wings, creates an uplift for the ones behind it. It is said that a bird flying in formation has three times the flying range of one flying alone. The lesson is obvious: when we are all working together and following the example of the leader, we get to our destination a lot quicker and with much less effort. Another thing I discovered is that when one of those geese flies out of formation, he immediately meets resistance and hustles back into his place. Here is another lesson that is more than obvious: if we had as much sense as a goose, we would keep following the example of our leader and not try to fly it alone. It just makes the job a lot harder.
I noted something else that day: when the lead goose fell back in formation, another goose immediately flew up to the point to take the lead, following the good example of the first leader. The point is, we all need each other. Everyone should share in the harder work from time to time and be the ones to set the example ourselves.
Content drawn from The Nehemiah Code: It's Never Too Late for a New Beginning.