Lessons from Leadership: Interview with a CEO to CEOs

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by Chris Cloud

The following interview is the second of a series of four interviews with missional business owners on the lessons they’ve learned about leadership.

 

Brett is a CEO who coaches and advises other CEO’s on how to run their companies wisely. He is a Christ-follower in the marketplace, involved in mentoring businesses around the world.

What is your philosophy of leadership?

To be a good leader, you must first be a good follower. Everyone follows someone or something.  Even if you’re the CEO, you must follow after a purpose greater than yourself or what you consider to be ‘the right thing’ to do.

Here’s why: If you think of yourself as a mere island, leading by yourself, for yourself, you will be here today, gone tomorrow and no one will notice, or even care, that you’re gone. You will have lived, you will have died, and at best … you will have simply not mattered. At worst, not only will you have failed to contribute to society in any meaningful way, you quite possibly may have become complicit in evil. But, if choose to lead from an other-centered perspective, regularly connected to and informed by the source that imagined, formed and breathed life into your very being, for purposes far greater than anything you could ever ask or imagine on your own; then, you will have led effectively and will have truly lived a life worth living.

What experiences, people, or philosophies have most influenced the way you view and practice leadership?

I’ve learned vastly more from my failures and times in the ‘desert,’ than from my successes and ‘mountain-top’ experiences.  Times of trial purify us. Suffering quickens us and sensitizes us to the needs of others around us. I’ve seen this to be true in the lives of all great leaders I admire (Washington, Lincoln, Mandela, Gandhi, Joseph, David, Jesus himself), and I’ve found it to be true in my own life.  Read more

Lessons from Leadership: Interview with a Multinational BAM Owner

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by Chris Cloud

The following interview is the first of a series of four interviews with missional business owners on the lessons they’ve learned about leadership.

 

Martin leads a multinational company with operations in three countries and clients around the world.

1. What is your philosophy of leadership?

Partnering with God to mobilize a group of people towards carrying out a specific part of His Will.

2. What experiences, people, or philosophies have most influenced the way you view and practice leadership?

I remember back to Grade 9 of Junior High student council elections. I felt unequipped to run for school president but a couple key friends promised to partner with me if I did it, so I did, won and the year was a huge success, we were able to bring clear leadership to enact change for the good. That was a turning point where I felt I could step up and lead in different situations when there was a need. The numerous sports teams I played on from age 12-25 absolutely helped shape my view and practice of leadership. I think sports are a fantastic “playing field” to develop leadership, grit, teamwork, etc.

3. How has your view of leadership changed over your years leading a BAM company overseas?

There has been a greater introduction of humility. Mostly due to the cross-cultural aspect. There has also been an increased passion to wait on the LORD and not just do things out of my own desire and strength.  Read more

BAM Job Opportunities in North Africa, South Asia & Southeast Asia

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BAM Company Jobs

Garage Mechanic / Supervisor / Trainer / Mentor – Automotive Garage in North Africa

We are looking for 2-3 adventurous Kingdom professionals from the automotive, trucking and heavy equipment industry (any combination thereof). All three candidates need a heart to train and invest into local staff, though all need not be a supervisor or manager. There are two seasoned veterans leading this business team that value both working and playing hard in this coastal city where the Sahara meets the deep blue sea. All jobs would involve hands-on work, placing an emphasis on training and coaching while ensuring the quality of work.

Download job description

Managing Director – Medical Device Manufacturer in South Asia

We are looking for a Managing Director at our manufacturing company located in South Asia which is part of a group of companies with an international presence in the US, Europe & China operating in the medical device industry. The Managing Director will oversee the entire company and have full responsibility for operation and all aspects of the business, including finance, production, product development and human resources. He or she will lead and develop the company and ensure its vision, mission and purpose to deliver high value products to its customers in a socially responsible manner is realized.

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God Gives Us What We Need

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by Hugh Whelchel

The following is an excerpt from Monday Morning Success: How Biblical Stewardship Transforms Your Work, a recently published ebook by Hugh Whelchel on the biblical meaning of success. Download the ebook FREE here.  

 

God gave humans not only the physical world, but our own talents – gifts and abilities that we can use to serve him. Prior to the Reformation, the medieval church interpreted the talents in Jesus’ parable as spiritual gifts God bestowed on Christians. But the Reformers upset the status quo of the church by teaching people that their work matters to God. Martin Luther said, “The work of the milkmen is just important to God as the work of the priest.” Later, John Calvin helped shape the modern meaning of the world talents by defining them as gifts from God in the form of a person’s calling and natural abilities, rather than just spiritual gifts.

Despite some historical disagreements over the precise interpretation of talents, they are basically the tools God gives us to carry out the cultural mandate. He gives us everything we need to do what he has called us to do. In calling us to plant a garden, God gives us shovels, trowels, land, seed, strength, and patience. It is then our responsibility to use those gifts to the best of our ability. Even once we’ve used our gifts to till the soil and plant the seed, we look to him for rain and sun to secure the outcome of healthy plants. But without the contribution of our labor, the garden doesn’t grow.

Calvin challenged believers “to work, to perform, to develop, to progress, to change, to choose, to be active, and to overcome until the day of their death or the return of their Lord.” Calvin understood scripture to teach that “the whole of a man’s life is to be lived as in the Divine Presence.” As Pastor John Piper explains:  Read more

Work is Good

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by Hugh Whelchel

The following is an excerpt from Monday Morning Success: How Biblical Stewardship Transforms Your Work, a recently published ebook by Hugh Whelchel on the biblical meaning of success. Download the ebook FREE here.  

 

From his first steps on the earth, man received a charge from the Creator: work. As a culture, even as Christians, we’ve wandered away from the idea that we were created to work. We tend to view work as something negative. But God placed Adam in the garden to work it and take care of it before sin tainted his good world. As Christians, our mission is summarized by what is called the cultural mandate:

God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’
Genesis 1:28

We are to oversee all that is God’s while we await our Savior’s return. God has given us authority to take care of the earth and use wisely all that he has placed in it. Pastor Tim Keller writes in his book Every Good Endeavor,

“… We do not see work brought into our human story after the fall of Adam, as part of the resulting brokenness and curse; it is part of the blessedness of the garden of God. Work is as much a basic human need as food, beauty, rest, friendship, prayer, sexuality; it is not simply medicine but food for our soul.”

The cultural mandate also emphasizes that the physical world is a good and beautiful part of God’s purposes in this world. Far from a bus ticket to heaven, our salvation is an invitation to participate in the restoration of all things. Our stewardship of the physical world is just as important as our cultivation of spiritual gifts. Therefore, all that we do is worship – planting a garden, cleaning a school, creating a spreadsheet, building a hospital.  Read more

Wealth Creation for Holistic Transformation

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by Mats Tunehag

“Remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives  you the ability to produce wealth.” (Deut 8:18)

The Bible talks about wealth in three ways; one is bad and two are good. Hoarding of wealth is condemned. Sharing of wealth is encouraged. But there is no wealth to be shared unless it has been created.

Wealth is not a zero-sum game. Different kinds of wealth can and should be created, and can increase. All too often in the church the issue of wealth creation is misunderstood, neglected, or even rejected. The same thing applies to wealth creators.

Wealth creation is both a godly gift and a godly command (Deut 8). The people of Israel were commanded to seize business opportunities in mining and agriculture, and as a result the nation would prosper. However, God reminded them that wealth creation was a gift from him. It should be done in community and for community, recognizing the covenant, being accountable to God, and being mindful of blessing all peoples.

Wealth creation in and through business is beyond corporate philanthropy. Businesses do not exist to simply give away profit. They primarily exist to create different kinds of wealth for people and societies. It is not only about financial wealth, but also social, cultural, intellectual, and spiritual wealth.  Read more

Cashews with a Social Mission: From Hershey Exec to Sunshine Nuts

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From Forbes Magazine

Do you have to be a little nuts to give up all the trappings of corporate success, move your family to Mozambique to start a cashew company and pledge to give away 90% of your profits to help orphans and farmers?

More than a few people suggested as much to Don Larson, a former Hershey Company exec who  sold his Porshe, his hot air balloon and his house with a swimming pool to buy a small factory in Matola, Mozambique to launch his social enterprise.

Larson’s Sunshine Nut Company, sells roasted cashews,  grown by small farmers in Mozambique and produced entirely in-country.  The company, which turned its first profit 18 months ago, sold about $2 million worth of cashews last year, and  Larson is projecting $3 million to $5 million in revenue this year.  The nuts can now be found in  some 2,000 U.S. stores,  including Whole Foods and Wegman’s.

More than 30 years ago, Mozambique led the world in cashew production. But, following independence in 1975, 16  years of civil war and bad banking policies decimated the industry. Now, Larson is trying to bring it back – this time, by empowering local communities, paying farmers fairly for their product and creating   jobs with upward mobility for the country’s orphans and abandoned children in Sunshine’s factories. The company is devoting 30% of its net proceeds to support agricultural development and 30% to care for orphans and vulnerable children; another 30% will be directed to expanding to other developing regions, and, eventually, to other crops.

Most social entrepreneurs like to stress their founding story, the goals they hope to accomplish, the motivations that drive everything they do. The product itself? Sometimes, it’s just good enough, but nothing special. The really savvy social entrepreneurs have learned that a sincere mission and a superior product must go hand-in-hand.  Read more

Poultry Farmer to BAM Mentor: Interview with an Agriculture Veteran

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Dan Wiebe grew up in a farming family and started his own poultry business in 1970. With decades of experience behind him, he has more recently connected with the business as mission community and become a mentor to others. We asked him to share a little about his story and some of his advice for those doing BAM in the agriculture sector.

Dan, could you share a bit about your own experience in the agriculture sector, about your own background and how your family business grew?

I grew up in a family agri-business as the youngest of 7 children. My father, a second generation Canadian, had taken Teachers Training in the 1920s and by 1940 retired from teaching to manage his farm in the prairies of Manitoba, Canada. In 1949 he moved our family to western Canada to begin intensive farming with poultry.

By 1970 I was ready to begin my own poultry operation with one chicken house and 10,000 chickens. This was a time when poultry became the consumer’s more popular choice over beef.  Not only was the market expanding rapidly because chicken was a healthy alternative to red meat, but the cost of producing chicken dropped significantly as scientific improvements were introduced in nutrition and selective breeding to bring chickens to market much faster. The use of hormones in chicken production has never been legal in North America so chicken is still the safest and healthiest meat available to consumers.

I grew up observing in our own family business ways to involve all segments of a farming enterprise with the support industry in order to produce a better quality and more efficient end product. I used these lessons to integrate my own farming operation into the only fully vertically integrated chicken farm in Canada, from farm to plate.  Read more

7 Practitioners Give Start Up Advice for BAM in the Agriculture Industry

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In the first half of 2017, we are looking at BAM companies in different industries. We are currently focused on business as mission in the agriculture industry, sharing insights and stories from experienced company owners.

We asked BAMers involved in agriculture:

What advice would you give to someone starting out BAM and wanting to run an agriculture business?

The best advice is always to start small. It is easy to scale up as you gain understanding.  The greatest cause of failure in the industry is getting bigger than you can handle and overextended financially. All of this can be avoided by being realistic in your expectations from the beginning. It is always better to do a small thing well and scale up as time, energy and finances allow. We must remember that agriculture involves a great deal of waiting and trusting God to bring the growth. It often involves much experimentation to get the right things growing in the right place at the right time. Don’t ever trust that there is a “one style fits all” approach. Every place and every situation will bring its own challenges and its own victories. Remember, our God is a God of abundance and if we do things in His way, He will provide the increase. It is important to get a team involved and a good business plan in place. Even on a small scale, we must concentrate on the business side of things. If we don’t, we may end up with a big pile of cucumbers rotting in the yard. – Carl, Caribbean & Asia  Read more