About the Book :: Overview

God designed you. He gave each of us gifts and talents for what He calls us to do. He calls some of us to be ministers, others to be carpenters, caregivers, mechanics, or artists. He may have designed you to be a leader in the corporate world.

Corporations, however, have been plagued by scandals - Enron, Tyco, WorldCom and many others. Corporate leaders are distrusted and corporations are widely viewed as greedy and uncompassionate. The corporate world needs honest leaders of the highest character and integrity. God may have called you to be one of them.

As a Christian, integrity and a spirit of servanthood provide a strong basis for leadership. Christians, however, are sometimes perceived to lack important qualities for leadership; qualities such as decisiveness, toughness, courage, risk-taking, vision, or charisma. Much of this is secular bias, but in some cases it reflects our misunderstanding of scripture.

The church is too often silent on many of the difficult practical matters that executives (and others in secular professions) encounter in the business world. Certainly, we hear about love, forgiveness and are told to always act with integrity. But what advice does scripture have for handling a lazy employee, driving hard to improve profit, the "problem" of wealth, being decisive and bold, or even about the importance of your work to God?

As a Christian, you may have guilt about firing an employee, instead of forgiving him; that profit doesn't matter in the eternal scheme of things; that employees should always be shown compassion, rather than being held accountable; that you should be prayerful and patient, not bold and decisive; and that you aren't as important to God in your work as are people in the ministry.

These misconceptions could have two results:

1. The Christian may not be seen as having "the right stuff" because of his or her struggles with many of these practical problems. Therefore, he or she is not selected for leadership responsibilities.

2. Or, a Christian may avoid such responsibilities because of fears that he or she will face too many conflicts with the Christian life. Hence, he or she does not even enter the race.

Both results are unfortunate and unnecessary. If God designed you to be a corporate leader, He wants you to be a bold and effective one. God can help guide you on the right path.

The Executive Calling offers scriptural advice and the author's own experience on fifty-two different topics that will help you to become a more successful leader and fully integrate work with your faith. Each topic has questions for reflection that will challenge you. Read it straight through, or tackle one section each week and meditate on the discussion questions. The book also makes a great discussion guide for Christian groups.