28 THE BIBLE ON LEADERSHIP
and give of their wealth and labor to help build this temple?’’ And
because he put his money where his purpose was (like Fred Smith of
Federal Express, who invested large amounts of his own money), he got
a tremendous response: ‘‘Then the leaders of the families, the officers of
the tribes... the commanders of the thousands and commanders of
hundreds... gave willingly. They gave toward the work on the temple
... five thousand talents... of gold, ten thousand talents of silver...
eighteen thousand talents of bronze... The people rejoiced at the
willing response of their leaders.. .’’ (1 Chron. 29:6–9)
No leader ever unified the efforts of thousands of people or raised
large amounts of capital without an unwavering sense of purpose. King
David serves as a shining example.
PURPOSE ANDMODERNBUSINESS
But are we ‘‘pushing the analogy’’ a little too far? Can today’s prag-
matic, secular business leader be compared to a biblical prophet or king?
Aren’t most executives’ ‘‘purposes’’ focused squarely on the bottom
line, with such intangibles as group solidarity, ‘‘mission,’’ and ‘‘vision’’
placed firmly at the rear?
Not always. Herb Kelleher, CEO of Southwest Airlines, says his vi-
sion is to have a company where ‘‘kindness and the human spirit are
nurtured,’’ where you ‘‘do what your customers want and are happy in
your work.’’ Of course, this is backed up by tremendous effort and a
carefully conceived niche strategy: a low-cost airline connecting out-
of-the-way routes with a minimum of frills. At Southwest, a rational
plan and an inspirational vision add up to one tremendously potent
purpose.
We all know that Herb is not exactly your typical Rotarian. But he
is not the only business leader who talks about Purpose with a capitalP,
meaning it is about more than just profit. Consider the philosophy of
Konosuke Matsushita, founder of the giant Japanese conglomerate that
bears his name: ‘‘The mission of a manufacturer should be to overcome
poverty, to relieve society as a whole from misery, and bring it wealth.’’