Leadership is a “buzz” word today. We hear a great deal about its importance and necessity. Books have been written on the subject. Conferences are regularly offered on the principles of leadership and how to become a better leader. Most everyone has their own ideas of what makes a good leader. Most everyone has their own idea of what makes a bad leader. Perhaps through your own personal experiences you have worked alongside effective and ineffective leadership.

I believe John Maxwell, author of ‘The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader’, said it best and right when he said, ‘Everything rises and falls on leadership’. Manuals on leadership abound, both secular and spiritual. Henry Blackaby has written a must-read leadership book entitled ‘Spiritual Leadership’ that describes the process of spiritual leaders moving people to God’s agenda. Perhaps the best leadership manual I have found was not written by any best-selling author. It was not written by a leadership-model company looking to make a profit. Instead, it was written by God Himself. The manual I speak of is the Old Testament book of Nehemiah.

In recent study connected to a lesson I was preparing from this book, I come across a simple list of leadership principles from Nehemiah chapter two discovered by Donald Campbell, author and theologian. Over this series of posts, I want to take what I feel are the ten most important principles that Campbell discovered and develop them further to discover how God works through those whom He elevates to leadership roles, both inside and outside the church. Hope you enjoy.