He had a message to communicate, and nothing was going to keep
him from communicating it! Not rough seas or hostile crowds. Paul
crisscrossed the Middle East, Rome, and Greece numerous times as he
set up churches and spread the message of Jesus Christ. Wisely, Paul
supplemented these travels with letters to key peers and subordinates
when he could not be physically present. He also used his trusted lieu-
tenants to help him communicate. In a letter sent from Rome to fol-
lowers in Colosse, he writes, ‘‘Tychicus will tell you all the news about
me. He is a dear brother . . . I am sending him to you . . . that you may
know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts.’’
(Col. 4:7–8)
Reminiscent in his travels of Paul is Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, CEO
of Nestle. Although no doubt he has a few lieutenants (like Tychicus)
whom he can send out, he personally visits almost 4,000 employees a
year. ‘‘I go out in the field all the time . . . I am seldom in Vevey
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(company headquarters)—maybe one week a month. Otherwise I travel
to our facilities and gather local management around me. We talk and
talk; I explain to them what we are doing and they question me.’’7
In the early days of the business, Sam Walton of retailing giant Wal-
Mart established Saturday morning meetings of key executives. This
type of focused communication became even more essential as the
company grew (as it no doubt did as the children of Israel grew from a
tiny band to a conglomeration of twelve large tribes).
‘‘The Saturday morning meeting is where we discuss and debate
much of our philosophy and our management strategy,’’ writes Walton
in his autobiography, Made in America. Like Joshua and Ezra with their elaborately staged presentations, Walton was a master at making communication more dramatic. The Saturday morning meeting was rarely
just a straightforward business discussion. Like the ancient Hebrews and
the modern Japanese, Walton often encouraged his executives to sing
in these meetings. He would also bring in an executive from another
company, an athlete, or even an entertainer or comedian. He reasoned
that the more forms in which a message is communicated, the more
powerful it becomes.8
COMMUNICATING THE MESSAGE
It is one thing to understand the importance of communication. It is
another to communicate a message effectively. A message must be com-
municated in language the audience understands. The audience must
be made to believe that they can achieve whatever goals are being com-
municated. The message needs to be repeated, but not in the same exact
words every time, and not so often that it gets tiresome rather than
motivating. And often, the most powerful messages are communicated
indirectly, using allegory, symbols, and stories.
But no matter how carefully crafted, the message will not be believed
if the source lacks credibility. This was true in the time of Pharaoh and
it continues to be true in modern business, politics, or civic affairs.
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OPEN COMMUNICATION
Recently, there has been much talk about ‘‘open book management,’’
‘‘full disclosure,’’ and other terms that indicate a more thorough sharing
of information throughout the ranks of employees (often referred to
now as partners or associates). In practice, this openness is practiced
to different degrees depending on the industry and the organizational
culture.
But there are companies in which the commitment to free flows of
information between employees and management is more the rule than
the exception. Knowingly or not, these companies continue in the heri-
tage of biblical leaders like Luke, who prefaced the Book of Luke with
a statement that ‘‘since I myself have carefully investigated everything
from the beginning, it seemed good also to write an orderly account for
you . . . so that you may know the certainty of the things you have
been taught.’’ (Luke 1:3–4) Or in modern terms, ‘‘This is the truth, the
whole truth, which I am communicating to you because I trust you to
use it wisely.’’
Hewitt Associates is a benefits consulting firm that has been fre-
quently cited as one of the best companies to work for in America. One
reason for this is the openness of communication that is a linchpin of
their culture. Notes one employee, ‘‘Because the firm tells everyone
what is going on and will answer, literally, any question openly and
honestly . . . people don’t have to spend time tuning in to the rumor
mill, they simply ask.’’9 A simple model, but one seldom implemented.
Jack Stack of Springfield Re, a division of International Harvester,
practically ‘‘wrote the book’’ on open book management. He instituted
it because he literally felt he had no choice. The company was in dire
financial and operational straits and had essentially been ‘‘cut loose’’ by its parent. Stack could not look to ‘‘corporate’’ to get Springfield out
of the desert. Instead, he decided to trust his employees with key fi-
nancial and operating information, which they had never had access to
before and which many observers doubted they could understand, let
alone act on.
‘‘There was too much on the line for management not to give em-
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ployees the truth,’’ observes Stack. At workstations throughout the
plant, grease boards showed the numerical goals and a running record
of actual performance. It was a communication strategy of total trust,
which easily could have backfired due to lack of commitment from a
workforce that had every reason to be discouraged.
The result? Springfield Re not only met and exceeded most of its
production goals, it also became a model for other companies on how
to communicate openly and enlist employees in production goals.
Springfield Re even developed an additional source of revenue: They
charge a fee to visitors from other companies who want to ‘‘borrow’’
and learn from their communication and production methods!10
Another company that values the free and frequent flow of informa-
tion is AES. Says its top executive, Dennis Bakke: ‘‘We have very few
secrets here at AES. . . . Besides compensation levels, all financial and
market information is widely circulated . . . Some people are worried
about how public we are with our information; they’re concerned it’s
going to get leaked to competitors. But we think it’s a risk worth taking
because otherwise, how would our people become business people?’’11
TARGETING THE MESSAGE
Another key to effective communication is aiming the communication
directly at the needs and wants of the audience, speaking a language
that they understand and with which they ‘‘resonate’’ on an emotional
as well as cognitive level.
Often, targeting involves use of metaphors, analogy, myths, and sto-
ries, because direct communication (facts, figures) is not always the most
inspiring way to get people to see the urgency or applicability of a
message or course of action.
Jesus, for example, knew that his target audience was extremely fa-
miliar with the analogy of a shepherd and sheep to symbolize a leader
and the led. In John 10, he puts his efforts to proselytize into this frame-
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97
work, making his message more accessible to potential converts and less
objectionable to his enemies than if he had communicated it directly:
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the
sheep . . . I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them in also. They too will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd. This command I received from my Father.
This was a lot more palatable than his directly saying that he planned
to lead his Jewish followers away from traditional Judaism, would re-
cruit additional followers from the gentiles, would die on a cross in
pursuit of that effort, and that he was the son of God.
It might seem incongruous that the maverick leader of a women’s
cosmetics company would lean on biblical allegory to communicate her
mission to her vast female army of sales representatives, but Mary Kay
Ash was neither an ordinary leader nor a typical communicator. Speak-
ing at a sales convention, she roused the troops by pointing out that the
ancient Romans had conquered the world but had never been able to
totally conquer ‘‘the followers of the great teacher from Bethlehem.’’
The reason? The followers of Jesus met together weekly and shared
their difficulties with each other.
‘‘Does this remind you of something?’’ asked Ash. ‘‘The way we stand
side by side and share our knowledge and difficulties with each other in
our weekly unit meetings?’’12 With a simple, stirring comparison, Ash
challenges her followers to duplicate the heroics of the biblical heroes and heroines, compares them to people who have overcome great odds to
attain success, and inspires them to attain their own heroic mission.
Compare that type of communication with the brief memo or e-mail