A Good Leader Looks Like This

There's nothing worse than a toxic, self-centred leader because the power of their position magnifies their toxicity, causing damage, wreaking havoc, hurting people far and wide.  

You don't have to be a president, prime minister, billionaire or media mogul to be a leader. We're all leaders in some sense – as parents, as people responsible for this or that in the workplace.

To me, the marque of a genuine leader is this: that they accept blame and share praise; that when things go wrong they take responsibility and when things go right, they give credit where credit's due.

Nehemiah was given the awesome responsibility of rebuilding the defensive wall around Jerusalem after it'd been destroyed. It was a mammoth task. He started out by accepting his fair share of the blame:

Nehemiah 1:6-7 "Please open your eyes and ears and listen to the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night … I am confessing that I have sinned against you and that the other people in my father's family have sinned against you. We Israelites have been very bad to you. We have not obeyed the commands, rules, and laws you gave your servant Moses.

And when the wall was well underway, as the leader he gave credit to the hard working labourers:

Nehemiah 4:6 We built the wall of Jerusalem all the way around the city. But it was only half as tall as it should be. We did this much because the people worked with all their heart.

That's what godly leadership looks like – accept responsibility for the mistakes, give credit to the hard work of others.

That's God's Word. Fresh … for you … today.