Page 132 - The Bible On Leadership

118 THE BIBLE ON LEADERSHIP

Joe Liemandt, CEO of Trilogy, a technology firm in Austin, Texas,
is also a firm believer in the encouragement that an overarching goal
can provide: ‘‘So what keeps our people coming to work every day?
It’s our environment. Employees get energized around a goal—and that
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energy is contagious.’’ In the fast-moving world of high tech, where
goals can shift weekly, it’s important to maintain that energy. And the
option of ‘‘returning to Egypt’’ might as well not exist, since it’s a sure
guarantee of technological obsolescence.
The book of Hebrews reminded biblical leaders to ‘‘encourage one
another daily’’ (Heb. 3:13) and exhorted the early Christians: ‘‘let us
encourage one another.’’ (Heb. 10:24) Gordon Bethune of Continental
Airlines also knows the value of encouragement. He took an ailing air-
line with one of the worst customer service and on-time records and
put it back near the top of its industry. He did this with words and deeds
of encouragement, both large and small, starting with a $65 bonus in
each employee’s paycheck for better on-time performance.
This was just the first in a long string of encouraging words and
deeds. After the successful turnaround, Bethune wrote, ‘‘The biggest
single criterion for success as a leader is to recognize and openly appreci-
ate your subordinates. They’ll kill for you if you do that.’’ If you have
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any doubts about that, ask the troops who killed for David and Joshua
as they pursued their missions.
Another company that realizes the importance of daily encourage-
ment is Weyerhauser. Steve Hill, senior vice president of human re-
sources, notes that it’s often the maximum use and encouragement of
the human resources of a company that yield the most competitive ad-
vantage. ‘‘There isn’t a lot of difference between our two-by-fours and
Georgia Pacific’s,’’ he notes. ‘‘So we need to be cost conscious and
create a great working environment and really encourage people.’’ 14
King David’s men and Joshua’s army did not go confidently into
battle because they knew they had ‘‘superior’’ weapons. They had con-
fidence because they were better led and more frequently encouraged
than the opposition.
Soup would seem like a rather prosaic product that would not inspire
employees to knock down walls or cross raging rivers. But at Campbell