08/28/2026
They liked the results my team produced. They just didn't like working for me.
That was some of the most difficult—and important—feedback I received early in my career.
I was a young manager at Procter & Gamble, and I knew how to drive results. But after becoming a Christian, I was beginning to realize that some of what I had learned about leadership didn't look much like the leadership I saw modeled by Jesus.
That feedback forced me to confront an uncomfortable question:
Could I produce excellent results and still be the wrong kind of leader?
I decided to change the way I led—to become less focused on command and control and more intentional about reflecting the character of Christ.
A year later, something remarkable happened. People said they enjoyed being on my team—and our results were even better. Eventually, I began hearing from people outside the team who wanted to work with us.
That experience started a journey that has continued for decades and eventually led me to write Kingdom Leadership: Embodying Christ in the Marketplace.
I recently had the privilege of joining Tim Ahlman and Jack Cowberg on the Lead Time podcast to talk about that journey and what it means to embody Christ in the marketplace.
We talked about servant leadership, integrity, humility, compassion, stewardship, truth, prayer, perseverance—and why our faith should influence the way we lead Monday through Friday.
I'd love for you to watch the conversation.
And as you do, consider this question:
If the people you lead could anonymously describe what it's like to work for you, what would they say?
Watch the full conversation here:
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