ABSTRACT

This chapter examines the leadership styles of two groups of evangelical executives. One group, the preachers, weaves their religious faith into the fabric of their businesses. Another group, taking a more sophisticated approach, based on the biblical principles of stewardship or servanthood, actively pursues a values-management strategy. Empirical evidence demonstrates the role of corporate executives as preachers. Evangelicalism emerged in America in the eighteenth century, during the First Great Awakening, "as virtually a new form of Protestantism, one centered in the experience and affairs of the individual believer as opposed to the teaching and worship of the church." Other evangelical executives take a more sophisticated approach to their religious faith and values in their business decisions and actions as well as in their relationships with their employees, customers, and suppliers. In striving to see and implement a connection between their religious faith and their businesses, two values guide their actions: stewardship and servanthood.