Managing by the (Good Book)
Tuesday October 10th 2006, 10:25 am
Filed under: Uncategorized

Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal (10-9) has an interesting article about a group of executives using the Bible to manage their companies.  Calling themselves the C12 Group, they count more than 500 members. [Link here; regi$tration required]
This is very good news, though the article points out a couple of dangers.

One is that religion becomes just another tool to get ahead.  One of the members admits that his own transformation began after he went to a church with his wife, as his wife wanted a promotion, and her boss was a member of the church.

The other potential downside is religious discrimination, which is illegal in secular companies.  The employees in the article say they recognize their bosses’ faith, without feeling  pressured to give up their own faith to get ahead. Striking the wrong balance can be hurtful and expensive, so it’s good to hear that the members of C12 are doing it right.


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[...] Jon, the Baptist (yes, that’s what he calls himself) pointed out an excellent article in the Wall Street Journal recently about executives who are relying upon overtly Biblical principles to manage.  I located a free (no subscription to WSJ required) copy of the story here.  WSJ’s Phred Dvorak does a nice job of covering the bases, including a favorable mention of C12, which is an organization of Christian CEOs and business owners that originally had its start in the Sarasota, Florida area. [...]

Pingback by eChaplain » Blog Archive » Managing With Faith 10.13.06 @ 10:13 am

Jon, thanks for drawing our attention to this story. Having bumped into some of the wonderful folks from C12 (it was founded here in my city), I can tell you that they are a stellar organization. Blessings!

Comment by David G. Johnson 10.13.06 @ 10:15 am

Stellar or not are we saying that these guys wouldn’t be practicing this if they didn’t have a group? I truly beleive people like this have good intentions but…
Ultimately you can’t use the bible to run your company. But you can live a life faithful to God. Running a company according to the bible and practing your faith are not one in the same. What if God told you to give all your companies belongings to the poor? Capitalism often runs in opposition to loving your neighbor as yourself? Ultimately CEOs are responsible for maximizing profit. No? Look at Ford always pushing this mentality of buying American cars… then fire 100,000 people and move operations over seas. What would be the Christian thing to do? Leave operations here then let the company go under? If you truly wanted to run your company like Jesus you would realize that he literaly doesn’t care about that except for the people and that he is craving their devotion.

Comment by Randy 10.16.06 @ 7:16 am



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