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Nehemiah is the story of a God-fearing man that not only had a vision, but set out on a quest to see to it that his vision would become a reality. God put it on his heart to do so. He did this by traveling to the city of Judah and organizing the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. Under his management, the walls were rebuilt in only 52 days. In his quest, Nehemiah exudes qualities that are beyond admirable. He was inspirational. He was humble. He was honest. Last, but not least, he knew how to utilize his resources to the fullest extent. These qualities are what made Nehemiah a very efficient and effective leader, the kind of leader that could take a business successfully around the globe. I am in the process of deciding whether or not to expand my company’s operations to Mexico. What appeals to me about Mexico is its close proximity to the United States, the fact that is has no tariffs, and the strong work ethic that Mexicans living in America appear to have. I aspire to be like Nehemiah and exude those same leadership qualities that can be attributed to his success in the event that we do expand operations into Mexico.

It is apparent that Nehemiah was a very inspirational leader, because he was able to inspire the Jews to get on board with his vision incredibly fast. There is a lot that goes into being an inspirational leader. Inspiring people requires being knowledgeable about your audience so that you are able to connect with them. You must discover what motivates them. You must be able to establish credibility with them. You must exhibit confidence because in order for them to believe in you, you must be able to illustrate that you believe in yourself. You must demonstrate that you are worthy of respect. You must be courageous and be able to defend yourself and your stance when challenged.

Nehemiah was knowledgeable about the Jews that survived captivity and remained in Jerusalem. He knew that they were in great distress and reproach. He illustrated his knowledge of them in the way that he addressed them “Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach” Nehemiah 2:17 (New King James Version). He utilized this same statement as a motivator for the Jews. He established credibility with the Jews by letting them know that he had God and the king’s blessings. “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” Nehemiah 2:18 (New King James Version). He exhibited confidence and courageousness after he was challenged by Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem. He responded to their taunting, “The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem” Nehemiah 2:20 (New King James Version). He researched the background of the Jews, he used what he found to motivate them, he established credibility with them, and he exhibited confidence and stood his ground when challenged. These are all reasons why he was able to inspire the people of Jerusalem to build the walls.

If my company were to expand its operations to Mexico we would need to be knowledgeable about the Mexican workforce, just as Nehemiah was knowledgeable about the Jews. It would also be important for us to be aware of how the Mexican workforce differs from the American workforce. According to Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions, Mexico is a collective country, which means Mexicans prefer to be members of groups rather than act as individuals (Robbins, Decenzo, & Coulter, 2011, p.36). Since the United States is more of an individualism country, which means we prefer to act as individuals rather than as members of a group, this difference could be beneficial to my company because Mexicans would most likely work well on teams and in groups. According to Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions, Mexico also has a large power distance, which means the people of Mexico accept that power in institutions and organizations is distributed extremely unequally (Robbins et al., 2011, p.36). This fact could be seen in a positive light, because it implies that Mexicans may already have an understanding of the chain of command within an organization, since they are accustomed to settings of unequal power distribution

Mexico is more of a nurturing country than the United States. Mexicans value relationships, and show sensitivity and concern for the welfare of others. To Americans values such as assertiveness, the acquisition of money and material goods, and competition are important (Robbins et al., 2011, p.36). These differences would be great to keep in mind when deciding upon merit and rewards systems for my company if we decided to expand operations into Mexico. It would also be a great difference to consider when training front line supervisors how on how to manage employees most effectively in their day to day activities. Since the values are different between the two countries, most likely the motivators will be different. It appears that relationships with supervisors will have a large impact on productivity for Mexican workers.

Nehemiah was also very humble in his leadership of the Jews. “I pray, LORD God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with hose who love You and observe Your commandments” Nehemiah 1:5 (New King James Version). Here he reverenced God, which demonstrated his humility. When he arrived at Jerusalem he waited three days and told no one what God had put in his heart to do there. Nehemiah 2:12 (New King James Version). This vow of silence Nehemiah took is also an illustration of his humble leadership. Most leaders, when given assignments or visions as huge as the task he had taken on, are so excited about the task they cannot keep it to themselves. Instead of boasting and bragging about rebuilding the wall, Nehemiah kept it to himself until it was time to reveal his plan and who would be responsible for executing it.

Since Mexicans are nurturing and show sensitivity and concern for the welfare of others I believe that they would respond well to a humble leader……….example from peer reviewed journal to support.

Nehemiah and honest

Nehemiah and utilizing resources

Nehemiah mastered the art of gaining the most output from using the least amount of input, and this is exactly what I want to accomplish in the expansion of my company to Mexico.

References

http://0-www.lexisnexis.com.oak.indwes.edu/hottopics/lnacademic/ peer reviewed article

http://knowledgenetwork.thunderbird.edu/worldcafe/2009/10/23/mexican_etiquette/
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