72 THE BIBLE ON LEADERSHIP
people of yours?’’ (Solomon, David’s son, upon ascending to the throne,
1 Kings 3:7–9)
‘‘Therefore anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the
greatest in the kingdom of heaven.’’ ( Jesus, Matt. 18:4)These are wonderfully inspiring sentiments. But do they have any
application in the modern business world? Some of the most successful,
hard-hitting, goal-oriented, and ambitious executives have tempered
those traits with humility. Their leadership styles may not be exact cop-
ies of those of Moses or Jesus (whose is?), but they are exhibiting humil-
ity nonetheless.
AHUMBLEPERSPECTIVE
Jamie Bonini knew enough to be humble when he was named manager
of a large Chrysler plant near Windsor, Ontario. He had more years in
academia than he did in manufacturing, and rather than pretending to
‘‘know it all,’’ he admitted his weak spots and asked for help. He did
something that no previous plant director had done—he made frequent
visits to the manufacturing floor. When things went wrong, he blamed
the process, not the workers, and he asked for help from those workers
to fix the process.^2
Bonini’s humble management style was much like that of King
David. In the heat of a battle, David developed a strong thirst. Some of
his ‘‘mighty men,’’ imbued with the loyalty that can only be inspired
by a leader like David, offered to go across enemy lines, risking their
lives to bring their leader a drink! David refused to let them make this
sacrifice. He believed in being on the front lines with his men and
didn’t feel that any man should sacrifice his life to make the leader a
little more comfortable.
Former CEO Don Tyson of Tyson Foods was another leader whose
humility increased his effectiveness and the loyalty he got from ‘‘the