Page 46 - The Bible On Leadership

Purpose 33

What is Roddick’s purpose, which has driven the growth of The
Body Shop and created incredibly loyal customers and supremely moti-
vated employees? It is the creation of products that are natural and
whose production protects rather than destroys the ecosystem, a belief
that women are already beautiful and do not need artificial products to
enhance that beauty, and a devotion to empowering the employees and
customers (almost all of whom are women) rather than manipulating
their insecurities about their appearance.
When Roddick talks about mission and purpose, she barely mentions
products: ‘‘What has kept us going from all regions of the world . . . is
our common set of values—our human rights campaigning, our social
justice. That’s the glue that keeps us together.’’ 9
Another aspect of purpose is a ‘‘no-exit strategy.’’ When you truly
believe in a purpose, you don’t look for a back door (or a side door) to
make your escape when the going gets rough. Daniel didn’t enter the
lions’ den and then immediately look for the emergency exit in case the
Lord couldn’t pull him through. And many modern leaders founded
their businesses with the same ‘‘no exit’’ attitude. Steve Jobs had a mis-
sion to make computers enjoyable and accessible to the general public
at a time when only ‘‘geeks’’ could really run or enjoy computers. Bill
Gates envisioned ‘‘a computer on every desk in every home, running
Microsoft software.’’ It is hard to conceive what Jobs and Gates would
be doing today if they had failed. Their ‘‘no exit’’ strategy meant that
they themselves could not conceive of such an outcome!

PEOPLE AS A PRIORITY

Many of the leaders in the Bible found their purpose in saving individu-
als or large groups of people from suffering and death. The Book of
Esther tells us about a beautiful Jewish maiden who became Queen of
Persia when she found favor with King Xerxes. She was chosen not just
for her youth and beauty (she was little more than an adolescent, as
were many leaders and heroes of the Bible). Ironically, she was also