Similar missions. Essentially the same theology. Yet dramati-
cally different approaches to money.
Actually, Billy Graham and his team aimed not to go first class
but “in the middle.” When David Schmidt first went to dinner with
the Graham team, he was told, “Now, Dave, Billy taught us that we
don’t order the best thing on the menu, and we don’t order the
cheapest thing. We order in the middle.” David says, “The rest of my
days working with them, I just ordered in the middle. Middle hotel.
Middle car. That was a formative financial value they instilled in me.”
David talked about the value of a person and the need to eat
reasonably well. “At the same time, these were not our dollars,
they were given under God’s prompting and entrusted to us by
donors who trusted Billy. His organization models a sense of stew-
ardship, a strong sense of ethical concern.”
Integrity in “the middle way” contrasts with integrity in fifth
class. Each of us must wrestle with what’s right for our organiza-
tions. Are our values ethical in the highest sense? Do they bear
the light of scrutiny? Every organization develops a financial DNA
created by its leaders.
Refine Your Personal Ethic
The quote by Billy that leads off this chapter is worth pon-
dering: “If a person gets his attitude toward money straight, it will
help straighten out almost any other area of his life.” Certainly
that applies to the leader.
Developing our personal financial ethics requires significant
soul-searching and application of our deepest values. And it is a
continuing process.
Maxey Jarman, who was one of Billy’s advisers and who also
led the major conglomerate Genesco, was a wealthy man when
he attended Billy’s first Lausanne Conference in 1974. He had
already given millions to charity but was challenged by Lau-
sanne’s statement that we should live “simply.” He came back to
the U.S. and started driving a small, cheap car—so he could give
away more. “The only money I get to keep,” he said cheerfully, “is
what I give away,” referring, of course, to eternal rewards.
The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham