Page 68 - The Bible On Leadership

Kindness and Compassion 55

Marriott is one man who has created a vast hospitality empire based
on the compassionate words of Paul in Romans 12:10: ‘‘Love each
other . . . never be lazy . . . invite guests who need food and lodging.’’
Noah would have been a poor manager indeed if he had responded
with mere ‘‘feelings of empathy’’ when he learned that a flood threat-
ened to wipe out the entire human and animal population of the planet.
He immediately organized a work team to respond to the physical need
for a floating hotel.
Another manager who responded with practical compassion and
kindness to a natural disaster is M. Anthony Burns, CEO of Ryder
Systems. When Hurricane Andrew hit Florida, Burns knew he had to
do more than keep renting trucks. Instead, he made the lobby of Ry-
der’s corporate headquarters available to the United Way. He donated
food and clothing to charitable agencies and loaned out Ryder’s trucks
to people who needed to transport themselves and possessions to safer,
drier places (sort of a fleet of Noah’s arks).
Whereas many CEOs are content to ‘‘head up’’ these types of efforts
from their desks in corporate dry-dock, Burns went out on the front
lines and joined the work crews who were repairing roofs. With Burns’s
blessing, Ryder employees worked half days at the company and half
days in the rescue effort, many of them seven days a week. Burns was
elected ‘‘Humanitarian of the Year’’ by the local chapter of the Ameri-
can Red Cross because he had given of himself and his company’s re-
sources, not the usual ‘‘arms-length’’ dollar donation. People felt his
kindness and compassion firsthand, and that’s how he wanted it: ‘‘My
Mormon grandfather said, ‘the best thing you could do was giving ser-
vice to other people.’ And it’s good business.’’ 9

COMPASSION FOR THOSE IN TROUBLE

The Bible has many examples of leaders who advised and/or exercised
compassion for those in difficult straits: the prisoner and the oppressed
slave; the victims of natural disasters; war refugees; the halt, blind, and
the lame (today referred to as the disabled) and even the dead, who,