Knowledge Base · Leadership
What is the Nehemiah model of leadership?
Nehemiah is the chapter's closing model of a CI leader. From a comfortable palace post he was moved by Jerusalem's broken walls, went to assess the damage himself, rallied people around a vision, let them own their stretch of wall, met opposition courageously, and stayed humble, giving God the glory.
Chapter 6 closes with Nehemiah as, for the author, the supreme example of a leader who builds that kind of improvement culture. Nehemiah held a comfortable post serving in the king's palace. Yet news of his people and of Jerusalem's broken down walls broke his heart. Staying put was an option. Instead he felt compelled to act.
The pattern the chapter draws from his story runs in sequence. Vision came first: he started from a clear picture of what should be. He assessed the current state: Chapter 2 describes how, before issuing any orders, he went at night to inspect the ruined walls himself, seeing the reality on the ground rather than leading from a distance. Then he spoke honestly about that reality and gave people a compelling vision they could rally behind. Ownership followed: each group took responsibility for its own section of the wall. Opposition he met with courage and resilience. And humility ran through it all, with the glory given to God.
The application the chapter makes is direct. Organisations have their own broken-down walls: broken processes, frustrated customers and disengaged employees. The Nehemiah model is a leader who is not content with the status quo, and who leads in the servant pattern the chapter closes with, valuing others above themselves and looking to the interests of others. In that kind of culture, the book argues, people feel valued and empowered, and improvement follows.
“You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire”
Continuous Improvement in the Workplace, Ch. 2
Related questions
- What is the leader's role in continuous improvement?
- How do I get leadership buy-in for continuous improvement?
- How do I empower employees to improve their own work?
Source: Continuous Improvement in the Workplace, Ch. 6 (Cultivating Leadership for CI) and Ch. 2 (Effective Communication for CI).