“The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.” ( Luke 16:8 )

In a nutshell, business exists to serve God and serve clients. All else is secondary. The Great Commandment is all about giving God first priority and giving people priority. Godly business leaders implementing God’s biblical directives learn the simplicity of one big idea: we’re here to serve and not be served (for an example, look at Christ Jesus).

Based on the top 100 companies doing business in the U.S. and abroad for the past 100 years, there have been seven key traits identified through research. These seven Biblical traits, if integrated into your thinking and purpose, can become a part of your overall strategy, position, and become a very formidable competitive force. These strategies are more than concepts…they are a life-style and foundational in nature. Individuals, families, churches, and Christian companies planning for decades of long-term growth and stability, regardless of economy, circumstance, or marketing pressures build to last. In order, they are:

1) Make sure your employees know their jobs are secure and in the hands of God

2) Be selective in your hiring basing qualifications more on character than ability

3) Leadership team development that is self managing and encouraging

4) Pay well, very well: through one or more of the following

a) gain sharing

b) profit sharing

c) stock ownership

5) Commit to initial and ongoing employee training (write out the vision, speak the vision, keep saying the vision until everyone knows the vision and lives the vision, too)

6) Eliminate any status differences:

a) Communicate from the top down that every person is valuable and part of the team, all are partners, team, or associates…not just mployees;

b) Keep executive salaries in line with team orientation (this one is one of the most difficult for upper management to swallow…but one of the most important ingredients for long-term health);

7) Share information – communication is paramount:

a) Employee compensation is disclosed (this actually has the opposite effect whereas “hiddeness” promotes status, rivalry, one-ups-manship, and eventual company erosion (consider your commissioned sales people for instance);

b) Disclosure of company profitability either quarterly or annually;

c) Disclosure of company vision/mission/goals/strategy (if you implement all seven of these core values, you would not have to worry that your competition would duplicate your strategy…relatively few companies have what it takes to implement these “long-term” core values.

Live Christ Deliberately!
Doug Morrell