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Faith and Leadership: Excerpts From Ethix

How does personal faith influence a person’s leadership? In these two excerpts from interviews conducted for Ethix magazine, Al Erisman, executive editor of Ethix, explores this question with Guy Kawasaki and Collin Timms.

Guy Kawasaki

Guy Kawasaki is the co-founder of Alltop.com, an “online magazine rack” of popular news topics, and managing director of Garage Technology Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm. In addition, Kawasaki is a writer and speaker. Read the full Ethix interview with Kawasaki (part one; part two).

In what way do you see an intersection between business and religious faith?

Guy Kawasaki: [Long pause] Each person should have one operating system, to use a technology term. This operating system should be controlled by a high degree of ethics and morality. One’s ethics and morality can come from religious or non-religious sources. I don’t hold myself out as an example of someone who has combined Christianity and career, because thinking that you are a poster child is a slippery slope. I don’t make any secret about my Christianity, but I don’t position myself that way.

I have my own operating system. I have my own internal clock, and I don’t feel I have to live up to other people’s expectations of me. I don’t have an attitude that when I am a Christian I have to act one way; when I am a business person I act another way; and when I am a father I am act yet another way. I think all three should be completely consistent, completely transparent if not the same.

Lots of organizations have asked me to speak at Christian events and most of the time I have turned them down because I am not comfortable being held out as a good example of combining career and Christianity. On the other hand, there is a part of my speech where I say that I believe in God, and one of the reason why I believe in God is there is no other explanation for Apple’s continued survival. That gets a lot of laughs, but I’m sending out a clear message about my beliefs.

Collin Timms

Collin Timms is founder and chairman of Guardian Bank, a co-operative bank established for the poor in Bangalore, India. He is also managing trustee of The Bridge Foundation, one of the largest microenterprise development organizations of India. Read the full Ethix interview with Timms (part one; part two).

You’ve mentioned being among the small percentage of Christians in India. In what way has being a Christian influenced the way you think about business and economic development?

Collin Timms: That’s a very good question. We can’t help but interact with people who are not Christians in a country of many religions like India. So there is always this distinction that comes into focus. We are diplomatic and polite about our faith.

Hinduism is a traditional way of life for many here. It is very fatalistic and inward looking way of life. They believe that their self is at the center of everything. That marks a very different way of looking at the world compared with Christianity, where at its core we think outside the self. In Christianity we practice charity and find peace of mind by serving others. The road to growth in other religions centers on self improvement through introspection, meditation, and other inward looking methods.

This distinction plays out in business. When you are a Christian, you can’t help but think about how you can serve your stakeholders. You are concerned about your employees, your customers, your partners, and your investors. You are concerned that you do the right thing and your actions align with your value system. You have a long list of non-negotiables. This ethical framework is not the same in some of the other religions.

Being a Christian has actually been a help in business. I get a better response from people when they are treated this way. Some say you can’t be successful or a very smart business person if you try to do the right thing all the time. But when you build a reputation, that is, in the long run, being smart!