gained not just morally but also economically. The ‘‘right thing to do’’
does not always have to be an additional expense to the organization;
sometimes justice can actually help the bottom line, short-term as well
as long-term.
Psalm 11 promises that ‘‘upright men will see his face.’’ It does not
promise immediate or long-term profit for just acts, but that is indeed
what has happened to a number of diverse organizations, some of which
just wanted to ‘‘do good’’ and others that realized that ‘‘doing good’’
can also mean ‘‘doing well.’’
Vermont National Bank had no way of knowing that its Socially
Responsible Banking Fund could also have been named the ‘‘Highly
Profitable Banking Fund.’’ It just knew it had an idea that resonated
with its deepest values and the values of the people of Vermont. The
fund was instituted to promote socially valuable, fiscally sound enter-
prises such as affordable housing, organic farming, small business devel-
opment, education, and the environment. The goal was explicitly to
‘‘balance the scales’’ of justice and make sure that socially responsible
businesses received a chance to develop themselves.
Depositors can earmark their accounts for companies that ‘‘make a
positive contribution to the environment, their communities, and their
employees.’’ Ironically, this venture, which was seen as a risk to profits, has actually increased them. The fund grew from $7 million in the first
four months to $87 million in five years. Moreover, it grew $25 million
at a time when the total deposits in the state had shrunk by $115 mil-
lion, and it has consistently grown faster than the growth rate of the
entire bank’s deposits.
The risk to profits was overrated. David Berge, vice president and
director of the Socially Responsible Banking Fund, notes that the loan
beneficiaries tend to be more responsible, resulting in fewer defaults
than the typical business loan. ‘‘Instead of being the last to know that
something’s gone wrong, we’re one of the first.’’ This allows the bank
and the beneficiary to work out a solution before a default occurs.20
Another business leader who was able to mix justice and profit was
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John Shields, the president of the Ohio division of Finast stores. When
people looked at downtown Cleveland in the 1980s, they could be
pardoned if they were reminded of the Old Testament lines, ‘‘Jerusalem
will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with
thickets.’’ (Mic. 3:12) Like many, Shields saw urban decay, but he also
saw economic opportunity and a chance to bring economic justice,
jobs, and good service to the people of the inner city, many of whom
had to take expensive, inconvenient trips to outlying areas to buy their
food.
Shields saw the inner city not just as a ‘‘mound overgrown with
thickets’’ but as an underserved market. There was an ‘‘outstanding
business reason’’ to build new, modern stores, but there was also the
opportunity to revitalize the area. Shields oversaw the construction of
six new state-of-the-art stores in the inner city. Not only were the
neighborhoods better served, but the stores were highly profitable.
Certainly there were some ‘‘extraordinary’’ expenses to set up stores
in the inner city, such as additional staff training expenses and the cost
of setting up an unobtrusive but effective iron fence around the store to
discourage theft. But the effort involved more than just accounting for
expenses and trying to make a profit, since it was also an exercise in
economic and social justice. The mayor of Cleveland stated that ‘‘a
good business decision was also the right thing to do for the community.
So you have the best of both worlds.’’
The ultimate testimony to Finast’s dedication to fairness and justice?
The comments of the residents of the affluent suburbs surrounding the
inner city, who were amazed to see better stores there than in upper-
class communities like Shaker Heights. ‘‘When they go down there,
they’re stunned,’’ notes Shields. ‘‘They say, ‘My gosh, this is a nicer
store than we have in our neighborhood.’ ’’21
New London, Connecticut, was another city in danger of becoming
‘‘a heap of rubble’’ in the 1990s. It had been declining for years due to
loss of jobs in the city’s primary industry, defense. The housing stock in
the city was deteriorating, and 61 percent of the schoolchildren quali-
fied for free or reduced lunches.
The initial force for reviving the city was biblically inspired. Claire
Justice and Fairness
193
Gaudani, president of Connecticut College, realized that the college
had a responsibility to its host city. ‘‘We looked to Deuteronomy, which
tells us to ‘do justice, only justice, that you may thrive.’ ’’ Gaudani saw that the city, and the college, could thrive only if economic justice was
served. So she revived the New London Development Corporation,
which was dedicated to attracting new investment and rebuilding the
city’s infrastructure. Within three months, she succeeded in convincing
Pfizer to build a $280 million research facility employing 2,000
people.22
‘‘Do justice, only justice, that you may thrive.’’ That’s why Ben &
Jerry’s uses Greyston to bake its brownies and instituted a new flavor,
Rain Forest Crunch, which is a product designed around a social mis-
sion to preserve the South American rain forest. It’s why Anita Roddick
makes the campaign to save the whales an integral part of her business
plan, not just a cause to which she donates. It’s why Mark Elliott treats
his computer programmers on a par with the more visible, front-desk
employees. It’s why Jack Stack gives his employees shares in the com-
pany.
These and other leaders are taking to heart the question posed by
Edward Simon, the president of Herman Miller: ‘‘Why can’t we do
good works at work? . . . Business is the only institution that has a
chance . . . to fundamentally improve the injustice that exists in the
world.’’23
BIBLICAL LESSONS ON
JUSTICE AND FAIRNESS
If people perceive that they are being treated unfairly, they will
stop performing or they will act like those who are perceived
as favored.
The most credible companies are committed to justice not just
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THE BIBLE ON LEADERSHIP
in the workplace but in the communities where they are
located.
The most credible leaders believe in fairness to all individuals
and groups and act in consonance with these beliefs even when
this is uncomfortable or difficult.
A concern for the economically or socially disadvantaged can
help not just a leader’s credibility but also a company’s
profitability.
A leader who operates on principles of fairness inspires better
employee performance, loyalty, and retention.
It’s not enough to pursue justice. A leader also needs to reverse
injustices and issue deserved rewards quickly.
C H A P T E R
T E N
Leadership
Development
‘‘Praised be the Lord, who has allowed me to see a successor on my throne today.’’
—K D, 1 K 1:47
‘‘Look at the land with your own eyes, since you are not going to cross this Jordan. But commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him,
for he will lead this people across.’’
—D. 3:27–28
o paraphrase an old parable about a fish: Give me a leader
for a generation and I will perpetuate the organization for a
generation. Help me to develop leaders in every generation,
and I will perpetuate the organization forever.
We consider corporations like IBM, Procter & Gamble, and General
Electric to be long-standing organizations because they have been in
existence for perhaps a century; much of their success has been due to
the continuity of leadership that they have experienced. The ‘‘organiza-
tion’’ called Judeo-Christianity has been around for almost sixty times
as long, and largely for the same reasons—the ability to constantly
renew its mission and find the right leaders to execute the mission.
195
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THE BIBLE ON LEADERSHIP
But whether you’re in modern Los Angeles or ancient Palestine,
leaders do not just appear—they need to be developed. Noel Tichy
writes that organizations can develop leaders at every level only if other
leaders teach them both the theory and the practice, especially the latter, because you can read many books on how to walk on water or lead
people across the desert without increasing your competence in either
area. Tichy calls this mechanism—whereby one generation of leaders
develops the next one—the ‘‘leadership engine.’’1
But the ‘‘engine’’ is anything but automatic. The most successful,
long-lasting organizations make a conscious effort to develop leaders in
every generation. King David started to develop his ‘‘inner circle’’ long
before they were needed and before he even took power. Pursued by
Saul, he escaped to a cave, where ‘‘all those in distress or in debt . . .
gathered around him, and he became their leader.’’ (1 Sam. 22:1–2)
Later, many of these men would become members of David’s cabinet
and the future leaders of Israel. When leadership development and suc-
cession planning were performed conscientiously, the nation prospered.
When these practices were performed poorly or neglected, the nation