It has been said that the foundation of leadership is character not charisma. You don't have to be a charismatic, bubbly, over energetic person to be a leader. What you do have to have is character.
Rick Warren did a study on the life of Nehemiah and gleaned eight character traits of a great leader. This is a summary of Nehemiah's life and a brief look at the eight characteristics.
- Compassion. Nehemiah was a compassionate man. He cared about people. Everything he did was motivated by love.
- Contemplation. Nehemiah was a man who thought deeply. He prayed deeply. He spent much time alone with God.
- Cheerfulness. He maintained a positive attitude in spite of the fact that he was constantly under criticism, constantly being attacked, constantly being opposed on everything he did while he was rebuilding the wall.
- Concentration. Nehemiah knew how to concentrate. He knew how to set a goal and focus and say, This is what we're going to get done whether anything else gets done or not.
- Creativity. Nehemiah was a very creative person. He knew how to solve problems with creative things because he obviously didn't have all the resources at his disposal.
- Courage.
- Clear Conscious. Nehemiah was a man of integrity. He walked blamelessly before people and before the Lord.
- Conviction.
If you want to be a leader, these are things you want to build into your life in order to be effective.
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