Such a statement, so genuinely expressed, lifts the book to a new level. The interest is in serving a community that includes Christianity and reaches out to include all the dwellers of the earth. As such, it is a beautiful expression of the spirit of Christ himself.
For those who are interested in widening their horizons to include the entire human family, the spirit and advice of this book will assist them in developing transformative behaviors. It will also serve as a balm to the heart.
Ken Blanchard
Scotland
Foreword by Blaine McCormick
Make no mistake, servant leadership was a great idea and remains a great idea in the twenty-first century. Robert K. Greenleaf’s reflections on the nature of power and authority in a competitive world are as vibrant and challenging today as they were when they emerged in the early 1970s. Greenleaf spent much of his life in the business arena working for AT&T and was no stranger to the realities of organizational life. Later, he witnessed the cultural upheavals of the sixties and seventies and concluded that our thinking on leadership was deeply flawed. His ideas about servant leadership have stood the test of both time and practice. As a business professor, it gives me great pride to say that an idea of tremendous spiritual depth emerged from a businessman reflecting on his life and work. Maybe we underestimate the spiritual depths that can be plumbed by those of us who live and work in the marketplace.
Three decades later, another deeply spiritual model of leadership is emerging. More interesting, it appears that God is once again using businesspeople to bring a new way of thinking about leadership into the marketplace of ideas. This time, however, the vision is spread among a variety of people in a variety of locations.
In 1992, I left corporate America to enter the academic world. A little more than a decade later, after years of meditating on Psalm 23 as a leadership text, I co-authored a book titled Shepherd Leadership. Not long after this book hit the shelf, I learned that at least two other businesspeople had put pen to paper to clarify what it means to be a shepherd leader. Theodore Mistra is one of these people.
In this book, Mistra combines many years of business life and deep reflection to tell us what it means to be a shepherd leader. Not confining himself to only one psalm, he confidently guides the reader through the entire Bible. Time and time again, he shows that our world and decision set are much broader than we think them to be. Beyond this, he demonstrates by example the importance of caring for those on our path who need it most. Guiding us down new paths, creating for us a larger world, caring for us—that’s what shepherds do, and that’s what Mistra has done with his life.
It shouldn’t surprise us that businesspeople are capable of such spiritual insight. After all, God used an accountant to write the first book of the New Testament. And that King David fellow who wrote all of those psalms? Well, he grew up working the family business: shepherding. This book is evidence that the Spirit of God still moves in the marketplace.
Blaine McCormick
Co-author, Shepherd Leadership
Baylor University
Introduction
The Transformation of a Leader
Over 30 years ago, I was the executive vice president and chief financial officer of a small company. My background included an MBA from one of the top business schools in the world, significant management experience in Fortune 500 companies and a very ambitious Type A personality, all under the banner of being a Christian. How I ended up at a small company is another story for another time.
Shortly after I joined the company, we decided to leverage our assets and invest a significant amount of money to enter a new market. Because the company had negative net worth, the bank required both the president and me to personally guarantee a loan in order to fund the investment. This was not a problem for me because I was convicted that God had called me to this company and that God’s hand was on me and on the future of the company. As a matter of fact, I strongly believed that I was on a mission for his glory, and this conviction is what sustained me through this turnaround.
By the grace of God and hard work, we successfully entered the new market. Within a year or so, the company turned the corner and became profitable. I believed we were on a roll and that God would continue to bless us and there would be no harm. The company even negotiated an attractive health insurance premium from our group provider, which lowered our costs and added to our profitability. What could go wrong?
Shortly after this financial turnaround, one of our supervisors approached me with information about a new hire. He was an entry level employee who was actually very sick and needed major heart surgery. I immediately thought that we would face unexpected catastrophic medical costs, the group premium would increase and the company’s financial recovery would be in jeopardy. I was angry with the supervisor for hiring him. I was angry with the employee, who I thought knew he was sick and just wanted a job for health insurance benefits. In short, I believed he was trying to take advantage of us. My initial reaction was to find an excuse to terminate him, but something unexplainable in human terms caused me to pause.
As a Christian I knew I wanted to make the right decision, but I also struggled with how the world makes decisions, and that was just too easy. There had to be a better way. What did God want me to do? Did God want me to sacrifice one employee for the good of the company? Frankly, I was paralyzed about making a decision. I didn’t know what to do.
Finally, my wife suggested we go for a weekend drive so I could think clearly. Along the way, my frustration grew, until finally, gripping the steering wheel, I loudly called out to God for help. “What do you want me to do? You called me to this company, gave us financial success, and now it could be taken away. Do you really want to jeopardize the other staff for the sake of this one person?”
Then in a calm and deliberate voice my wife responded, “You are a shepherd to your employees. What would a shepherd do?”
I was thunderstruck. So simple an answer, yet so powerful! A rush descended from my head down to my feet, and a huge burden lifted off my shoulders. I knew God had spoken to me through my wife. I had my answer, and I was going to be obedient in his eyes, not the eyes of the world.
The next day, I went to the employee and told him not to worry and to get better soon because we wanted him back. The company would support him. He turned to me and said, “Don’t you worry. The hospital is performing the surgery for free, and all related expenses are being covered by them.”
To this day, I dread to consider what would have happened if I had not listened and surrendered to God’s will to take care of this single needy, lonely and suffering individual. What a lesson to learn! It was not only about profits but about people. About the people God puts under our care. It’s a lesson so easily forgotten in today’s business environment, where we hear time and time again that success is measured by financial achievement.
As businesspeople, our roles are played out in the context of various relationships—with God, our families, board members, senior executives, employees, clients or customers, vendors, shareholders and others. Interactions occur at every level of leadership as well, whether in personal, one-on-one, team or organizational realms. The same can be said of our roles at home and in every aspect of life. As the story of my dilemma and decision illustrates, conflicts in business often arise in the midst of competing priorities.
For many, the Bible, a source of truth and wisdom, provides the foundation for a consistent approach to leadership. Thus began my lifelong journey to study the Scriptures and transform my leadership style, including transforming my mind, heart and soul to learn what a shepherd would do. It is a journey I have been on for over 20 years that continues to transform me in ways I would have never thought possible, but God knew.
This book is about leadership. It is, in fact, about the greatest leader who ever lived. In The Servant Leader: Transforming Your Heart, Head, Hands, and Habits,