"Get it done" Leaders

I love reading Nehemiah 3. It's a list of everyone who finished the Jerusalem Wall project they were assigned: Eliashib and his fellow priests rebuilt the Sheep Gate, the sons of Hassenaah rebuilt the Fish Gate, Joiada repaired the Old Gate, and on and on. If Hebrews 11 is the roll call of faith, Nehemiah 3 is the roll call of responsibility.

However, one verse in this chapter sticks out: The next section was repaired by the men of Tekoa, but their nobles would not put their shoulders to the work under their supervisors. (Nehemiah 3:5)

I can imagine that the nobles were the type that didn't mind helping supervise the project, but Nehemiah says that they didn't want to "put their shoulders to the work." Ever worked with someone like that? Someone who could pinpoint the problem, but was of no real use in bringing about a solution? Someone who saw themselves as being just a little above the hands-on effort required to complete a project?

British General Alan Brooke said, "It is child's play deciding what should be done as compared with getting it done."

This is what I look for more than anything else when hiring an employee or placing a person in ministry leadership: the ability to get things done. It's also one of the characteristics I most want instilled in my children. And it's a quality I try to build in myself.

The most effective leaders can do more than diagnose the problem. They can take the steps necessary to make the problem go away