What is the best strategy when nobody else cares?  From the 5th century B.C. Old Testament profile of Nehemiah, who volunteered to return to his home base of Jerusalem and rebuild from the ruins, I’ve discovered 7 things he did to define reality and motivate people despite the fact that nobody seemed to care about the conditions around them:

1.  He challenged them without blaming them. (see 06-07-10 Blog)

2.  He believed in them. (see 06-14-10 Blog)

3.  He focused on just one step:  “Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem” (Neh. 2:17).

There was no insane 2,000+ page task list that resembled Obama’s health care reform bill.  This was a simple, obvious first step that was desperately needed.  People can get overwhelmed if you dump the whole project on them at once.  If a guy and girl planning a wedding were told all the stuff they were going to have to face in their married life, they’d back out!  Give your teenager the big list of things they have to get done and they’ll pick up their iPod, put in the ear buds and zone out.  Leaders who focus on just 1 issue or task at a time will be the most successful.  It’s easier to define priorities and make choices to stay on track when you know the “one” thing that you must get done first.  Too many issues or choices add to a spirit of discouragement, because it seems like nothing ever gets done. 

If you can’t write the purpose of your business, ministry, or life for at least the next year on the back of a business card, you probably are NOT getting things done that count.  Could you do the Donald Trump thing—“the elevator pitch”—and present your purpose or pitch your product to the CEO on a 60-second elevator trip?  When you can put the purpose or project in a sentence and pitch it like Nehemiah, so that what you are asking someone else to do is understandable enough to be repeatable and explainable, then you can start!  “Let us build the wall” is kind of hard to mess up or misinterpret.  Details come later.  People are motivated when they have a specific direction.  Likewise, when nobody else cares, focusing on one step at a time as a leader helps stir up some interest.

The challenge to rebuild the wall was huge, but not beyond their reach.  It was not impossible.  Success can build confidence.  To finish the wall—they ultimately did it in 52 days—brought them back to life.  Like the New Orleans Saints winning the 2010 SuperBowl that re-ignited the spirit of their entire city, completing the wall project represented a comeback that was underway. 

…to be continued