he gave away royalties to his books. That added greatly to his
financial credibility.”
We asked Sterling about Billy’s financial risk-taking.
“He attempted bold things, like the Amsterdam conferences,
but he was always determined never to run into debt. He’s man-
aged the ministry with conservative principles ever since it started
in a little basement office. If we were running behind in dona-
tions, he would cut expenses.”
“Sterling,” we asked, “it’s said a leader can’t lead unless he
cares about money, about resourcing the vision. How do you see
Billy’s role here?”
“He strongly felt his responsibility. When you’re head of a large
organization with many employees, you have that on your mind
all the time. He was aware of the income flow and the need to pay
the bills. In board meetings he would turn to George Bennett and
say, ‘George, talk to us about the economy.’ When we were setting
the budget, he would call George, listening, seeking wisdom. If he
thought the economy was in a downturn, he would say, ‘We’re
going to cut back.’ And he would take the initiative, even at the
last minute saying, ‘We’re going to cut everything by 10 percent.’
Yet other times when he knew we had enough revenue, he would
increase the budget. He was in touch with reality.”
■ ■ ■Perhaps Sterling’s succinct “he was in touch with reality” provides
the most astute summation of Billy’s approach to money. Coming
of age in the Great Depression showed him the consequences of
inadequate resourcing. Tragic examples of leaders who used money
selfishly made him viscerally opposed to feathering his own nest.
Although he had many wealthy friends, he was acutely aware of
the Bible’s warnings about the love of money, and he was deter-
mined not to become personally entrapped. His own skills with
money were unexceptional, but he saw money as a vital, God-given
asset to be wisely employed. And, he knew that even with the best
of intentions, financial sloppiness could spell disaster.
The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham