shipped over forty tractors per day to meet their goal. Like David, Stack
had no choice but to rely on his people to join his sense of purpose:
‘‘People participate in something larger than themselves, something that
has a powerful meaning, both individually and collectively.’’ One of
Stack’s ‘‘mighty men’’ put it this way: ‘‘I’m not just a name on a time
card. I’m a person, and what I have to say means something. I matter.’’12
Purpose is often manifested in physical acts. Hezekiah was a young
king who ascended the throne of Israel at age 25. His father, King Ahaz,
had strayed dramatically from the original purpose of his people. He
even ordered his own sons to be sacrificed to placate the idols Baal and
Molech.
Hezekiah, one of the sons spared this sacrifice, realized that strong
symbolic measures were necessary to put the people of Israel back ‘‘on
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THE BIBLE ON LEADERSHIP
purpose.’’ The first thing he did was to open the doors of the temple
and repair them. This was not just the repairing of pieces of wood; it
was a rededication of purpose. He then exhorted his subjects: ‘‘Listen
to me, Levites! Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple
of the Lord . . . remove all defilement from the sanctuary.’’ (2 Chron.
29:1–11) Many of the sacred items had become impure or unclean, and
Hezekiah wanted to restore the temple to its former level of cleanliness.
For a modern parallel, let’s segue for a moment to the ‘‘golden
arches’’ of McDonald’s, the modern version of a fast-food ‘‘temple.’’ If
there was one thing Chairman Ray Kroc couldn’t stand to see, it was
the defilement of one of his temples because it deviated from the clean-
liness standards for which his chain had become known throughout the
world.
One day, Kroc drove into a McDonald’s franchise near corporate
headquarters in Oakbrook, Illinois and observed a strong deviation
from McDonald’s purpose of offering an attractive, sanitary environ-
ment. The flowering bushes were littered with paper cups, Happy
Meal boxes, napkins, and other trash. The manager was not present, so
Kroc had the assistant manager call the manager in from his house.
More than a little shocked, the manager asked Kroc what he could do
for him. Kroc’s answer: ‘‘Look, we don’t want trash around our sites!’’
That’s a simple but effective statement of purpose from the head of a
multibillion-dollar corporation to the manager of a unit. An even more
effective statement was Kroc himself helping the manager to pick up
the trash.13
Whether it’s young Jack Stack, young King Hezekiah, or old Ray
Kroc, when the right leader shows commitment to purpose in the right
way, people respond emphatically. We’ve seen how the unit manager at
McDonald’s responded to Ray Kroc’s leadership. Here’s how the Isra-
elites responded to Hezekiah: ‘‘Then these Levites set to work. They
brought out of the courtyard . . . everything unclean that they found in
the temple of the Lord.’’ They purified the entire temple and all the
articles in it: ‘‘We have prepared and consecrated all the articles that
King Ahaz removed in his unfaithfulness . . . they are now in front of
the Lord’s altar.’’ No trash in front of or in that site either!
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39
King Hezekiah also knew the power of ritual in establishing purpose:
‘‘As the offering began, singing to the Lord began also, accompanied by
trumpets . . . The whole assembly bowed in worship, while the singers
sang and the trumpeters played. All this continued until the sacrifice of
the burnt offering was completed.’’ (2 Chron. 29)
Anyone who has ever been to a sales meeting or corporate ‘‘pep
rally’’ can see some parallels here. The clothes are different (Brooks
Brothers and Armanis rather than linen robes), as are the musical instru-
ments, and hopefully there are fewer live sacrifices. But the major com-
monality remains: dedication to and celebration of purpose.
Nehemiah was another biblical leader with a purpose: to rebuild the
wall of Jerusalem, and with it the will of its people. The wall had been
destroyed while the Hebrews were in exile. In rebuilding the wall,
Nehemiah would also be rebuilding the symbol and fabric of a nation.
‘‘Then I said . . . ‘You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall
of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace . . .’ They replied,
‘Let us start rebuilding.’ ’’ (Neh. 2:17–19)
This could be the battle cry of any corporation or team that has
suffered a disastrous setback (like IBM in the late 1980s and early 1990s,
or the Chicago Bulls after Michael Jordan).
OBSTACLES: TESTS OF PURPOSE
But few great purposes are accomplished without obstacles or opposi-
tion. Nehemiah encountered both. The colonial officials in Jerusalem
ridiculed and opposed Nehemiah’s efforts to rebuild the wall. Tobiah
the Ammonite chortled, ‘‘What they are building—if even a fox
climbed up on it, he would break down their wall of stones.’’ And
Sanballat the Horonite chimed in, ‘‘What are those feeble Jews doing?
. . . Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—
burned as they are?’’ (Neh. 4:2–3) Which just goes to show you that if
your purpose is good and worthwhile, you will probably have some
vocal opponents.
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THE BIBLE ON LEADERSHIP
Nehemiah knew that he alone could not accomplish his purpose of
rebuilding the wall; he needed to strengthen the purpose of the entire
team. This he did by reminding them that they were not just rebuilding
a wall, they were rebuilding and defending their families and a nation.
He posted them by families, with their swords, spears, and bows. ‘‘After
I looked things over, I stood up and said to . . . the people, ‘Don’t be
afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and
fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and
your homes.’ ’’ (Neh. 4:14)
Nehemiah was also willing to forgo the corporate ‘‘perks’’ of his day
in order to attain his purpose. Too many of our modern leaders have
been sidetracked from their purpose by the lure of corporate jets and
exorbitant bonuses; even biblical leaders could be distracted by the lure
of increasing their lands or their herds. Not Nehemiah. He stayed ‘‘on
purpose.’’ Out of reverence for the Lord, he did not lord it over others
or acquire large amounts of money, food, or land. ‘‘Instead, I devoted
myself to the work on this wall. All my men were assembled there for
the work; we did not acquire any land.’’ (Neh. 5:16) With the help of
a purposeful team, Nehemiah completed the wall in fifty-two days. Not
only did he galvanize the Hebrews, his accomplishment of purpose de-
moralized the competition: ‘‘When all our enemies heard about this, all
the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence. . . .’’
(Neh. 6:16)
Another ‘‘David’’ who rose to challenge the ‘‘Goliaths’’ in its indus-
try is the world’s quirkiest (but probably most ‘‘on purpose’’) ice cream
company, Ben & Jerry’s. At first, all they wanted to do was have fun
and survive (which is extremely difficult when you are selling ice cream
in one of the coldest climates in America, you’re working out of a
converted garage, and you have extremely limited business knowledge).
As they grew, however, they expanded their purpose. In fact, they
expanded it too much; the purpose became diffuse. They found that in
trying to focus on too many areas, they were diluting their overall pur-
pose. Originally, Ben & Jerry’s had four different social agendas: the
environment, agriculture, economic opportunities, and children and
families. They were literally trying to ‘‘save the world.’’ They certainly
Purpose
41
have not deserted any of these purposes, but they consolidated the mis-
sion to focus on the last one, children and families. Of course, they have
not lost sight of the overriding business purpose of the company, which
is to make a high-quality ice cream with a whimsical aura, and to have
fun and make a profit doing it.
ADVERSITY CREATES PURPOSE
In the Bible, no one had harder obstacles to overcome than the proph-
ets and the disciples. The prophets cried out to the larger society when
it was wandering from the path of justice, righteousness, and monothe-
ism and moving toward corruption and idol-worship. The disciples
were spreading the gospel of a man who had been crucified by the
Roman Empire as a traitor and revolutionary, and whose ideas radically
challenged the religious orthodoxy in Jerusalem.
For this very reason, the prophets and disciples needed more strength
of purpose than the average citizen of Palestine, who just ‘‘went with
the trends,’’ whether they were monotheism, idol-worship, or obedi-
ence (feigned or real) to the higher authorities—be they indigenous or
foreign masters. The disciple Paul offers us some stirring examples of