deeply who he was; it reveals the fundamental character of the man and the bedrock of his leadership. The Vulnerable Heart of a Leader Once we understand Nehemiah’s exalted status within the Persian Empire, and learn, in Pfeiffer’s expression, that he “was a successful man of action,”9 we marvel at his self-introduction. In our first glimpse of Nehemiah we find him sitting down and crying for many days (v. 4)—hardly the picture of a dynamic leader! All of his actions, however, come out of his