Page 194 - The Bible On Leadership

180 THE BIBLE ON LEADERSHIP

happen, so I try to allocate resources fairly and pay equal attention to all
facilities.’’
But Elliott also has a ‘‘problem within a problem.’’ Within his New
Jersey facility, the computer operations department often feels like an
‘‘alien outcast’’; a group that, although essential to operation, is often
looked down upon as the ‘‘grunts’’ who have to work twenty-four
hours a day, seven days a week. Because they are also physically sepa-
rated from the rest of the group, Elliott emphasized computer opera-
tions’ integral membership on the team by adding nameplates for each
individual at the entrance to the operations area.
There was also an ‘‘alienation’’ aspect to the company picnics and
holiday parties. Some operations employees missed these events every
year because they had to be on duty at the computer center. Elliott
wanted to be fair, so now for people who have to work through the
picnics and parties he issues theater tickets, gift certificates, and vouchers
to restaurants (where the food may be even better than at the picnic).
He also puts up the operations employees at hotels when technical or
weather emergencies force them to stay late or overnight.
Says one member of the operations group, ‘‘We feel part of the orga-
nization now, and we didn’t before. We felt like stepchildren.’’ Says
Elliott, ‘‘I try to manage according to the ‘justice’ theme. I want to be
that light in the fog. I want my team to say, ‘He’s standing there with
the light, and he will be fair and lead us to results.’ ’’ 4
Elliott’s vision of just leadership echoes the last words of King David:
‘‘When one rules over men in righteousness . . . he is like the light of
morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain
that brings grass from the earth.’’ (2 Sam. 23:4)
Another company where a group of outsiders initially felt mistreated
and excluded was Inland Steel. Four young African-American profes-
sionals felt that ‘‘whenever you were involved in meetings, you always
felt like you were not part of the group . . . that you were invisible . . .
We were taught by our families to work hard and get ahead, only to
find that the doors were closed.’’
The young managers went to Steve Bowsher, their white manager,
because of his reputation for fairness. They complained about lack of
opportunity to advance and seemingly ‘‘harmless’’ but racist jokes.