The assignment was overwhelming. The Israelites needed to rebuild the wall around their city.

The need was so desperate, so compelling, it actually brought Nehemiah to tears.

How could he possibly mobilize the nation to achieve what appeared to be impossible?

Well, today, on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindall draws timeless lessons from this inspirational story.

The 16-part series is called Hand Me Another Brick.

If you're in a position of authority, whether it's in your home or on the job, you'll appreciate the wisdom ahead.

Chuck titled today's message, A Leader from the Knees Up.

Sometimes in the unsophisticated but painfully honest world of children, we find the best answers to weighty questions in life.

Have you noticed that? Such as, what is leadership?

For example, back to childhood, remember how you resolved leadership struggles when you were just a kid?

You tried to entice other kids by saying, hey, come over and play at my house. We have cake and ice cream.

Then the wide-eyed bunch spun around to hear a competing offer from one of your friends.

Oh, yeah, he says, well, my mom just finished making some big chocolate chip cookies.

And you can all ride my horse in the leadership crisis. His horse trumped your cake.

Remember that? The barefoot electorate voted with a unanimous hoop and stampeded for their new leader's Hussie Ender.

You started to say something about your dad's jet about then, but I was all too late.

Childhood, what great memories.

When you and I apply the question, what is leadership to that scene, we as adults must admit that one word comes to mind.

Influence. We lead people according to the degree that we influence them.

And that would be from neighborhood politics to world politics.

This one word definition of leadership still holds true.

Leaders from different realms, nations and neighborhoods agree that stronger the influence, the greater the leadership.

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