Nehemiah, God's Project Manager - Tackling Culture Killers

The potential for culture killers to ruin a good culture at work is not without reason for concern. Nehemiah had his own potential culture killer during his time working on the wall. In Nehemiah Chapter 5 we are introduced to a horrible turn of events, The nobility of the Jews has charged their brethren for food during a hard time to the point where they took their lands, their sons and daughters to be slaves, and even enslaved them. The common Jew was begging for help to survive, and it was falling on the deaf ears of the nobility. The people were getting restless, and they called on Nehemiah to help. How did Nehemiah proceed and handle the problem?

First, Nehemiah challenged the nobles for taking advantage of the people. He cited his own example of not requiring anything of the people as he served as governor. He was entitled to take a portion from the people but wouldn't burden them. The number one rule to deal with culture killers is to not be part of the problem. Secondly, to set the example of what should be done. Nehemiah did both. Next, Nehemiah challenged the nobles to make it right. He didn't ask them to give it all back. Just those enslaved and the lands primarily. He understood that they had a right to charge a certain amount for the goods they provided. They weren't to be gouging though. Nehemiah demonstrated the next principle. Find means to reconcile the culture killers when possible. A restored team can often be more productive one than a team missing members while you rebuild. Finally, Nehemiah gets a commitment before God from them to leave off the culture killing practices. The principle is simple...there must be commitment and buy-in for a culture change to be effective. Plans and processes, no matter how good, are not enough without buy-in from all parties.

These simple efforts by Nehemiah quickly got the culture back on track and helped to restore good will and peace in the workforce.