As a leader, your success should be found in the success of others. This is the essence of servant leadership.
Nehemiah was a famous Old Testament leader. He is often commended, and rightfully so, for his vision, commitment, strategy and people skills needed to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. However, there is an individual who is rarely discussed but was critical to Nehemiah’s success. His name was King Artaxerxes, the Perisan ruler.
The following are 12 Steps To Making The Dreams Of Others Come True we learn from King Artaxerxes in Nehemiah Chapter 2:
- Leaders Who Make Dreams Come True Ask Good Questions – When approached by Nehemiah, King Artaxerxes asked him four questions between verses 2 through 6. These questions demonstrated care, concern, gave clarity, revealed issues, and established parameters which led to solutions. True wisdom is always in great questions, not great answers.
- Leaders Who Make Dreams Come True Care Deeply About People – They are others focused. Verse 2 says, “Therefore the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart.” Artaxerxes would have only known of his sorrow by having spent time with Nehemiah previously.
- Leaders Who Make Dreams Come True Are Great Listeners – The most underrated leadership skill is listening skills. How can you address the needs of your team if you have not listened to their concerns? Verse 3 says, “(Nehemiah) said to the king, ‘May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?”’
- Leaders Who Make Dreams Come True Will Ask For A Plan – A dream without a plan is a hallucination. Leaders want to make sure you have thought through your dream and it is achievable. Verse 4 says, “Then the king said to me, ‘What do you request?”’
- Leaders Who Make Dreams Come True Respond To A Compelling Vision – Leaders get numerous requests on a daily basis. Dreams are a dime-a-dozen. Your dream must be communicated in a way which touches their heart. Verse 5 says, “I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.”
- Leaders Who Make Dreams Come True Surround Themselves With Wise People – You must know who influences the influencers. For King Artaxerxes it appears to be his wife. Verse 6 says, “Then the king said to me (the queen also sitting beside him)” BTW – my wife is my top influencer as well.
- Leaders Who Make Dreams Come True Ask For Deadlines – Deadlines communicate the dream’s urgency. In verse 6 Artaxerxes asks, “How long will your journey be? And when will you return?”
- Leaders Who Make Dreams Come True Resource The Dream – When leaders invest in your dream they often invest their personal resources into making your dream a reality. Verse 7 says, “Furthermore I said to the king, ‘If it pleases the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of the region beyond the River, that they must permit me to pass through till I come to Judah.”
- Leaders Who Make Dreams Come True Loan Their Influence – In addition to investing their financial resources, leaders are also willing to invest their influence into making your dream a reality. Often, the influence is more valuable than the money. Verse 8 goes on, “a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest”.
- Leaders Who Make Dreams Come True Give Others Permission To Pursue Their Dreams – They give their stamp of approval. Verse 8 concludes by saying, “And the king granted them to me according to the good hand of my God upon me.”
- Leaders Who Make Dreams Come True Remove Obstacles – They make the pathway to success easier. Verse 9 says, “Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.”
- Leaders Who Make Dreams Come True Follow Through – They are committed to your success. As Nehemiah began speaking with officials along the journey he noted in verse 18, “And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and also of the king’s words that he had spoken to me. So they said, ‘Let us rise up and build.’ Then they set their hands to this good work.”
There would have been no story of Nehemiah without God using King Artaxerses. And for someone in your sphere of influence, God wants to use you to make their dreams come true as well.
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