Mike discovered that a trusted employee had stolen money from him. Heartbroken, Mike intended to fire her, but when confronted, the employee broke down crying with sorrow. She told Mike that her husband had become addicted to drugs and had bullied her to steal to support his habit. Mike took an unconventional business approach. Mike met with her husband. By ...
Midland Memorial Hospital in Midland, Texas had built a $165 million state-of-the-art medical tower, but patient satisfaction was only at 1 percent. Per the Chief Operating Officer, Bob Dent, in a Washington Post article, the missing ingredient was empathy. Midland Memorial Hospital decided to correct the problem. They invested in training, in practicing servant leadership, and in giving staff more ...
Donnie Smith, CEO of Tyson Foods, shared at a conference about a Tyson employee who seemed “troubled.” When asked, the employee told Donnie that since her husband’s death, she had lost hope and saw no reason to live. Donnie took time to “share the Gospel” with her and she prayed to follow Jesus, giving her hope and purpose. Donnie reminds ...
During 1894, to enhance profits the Pullman Palace Car Company slashed the wages of its employees while requiring them to work 16 hour days. Pullman also controlled housing and necessities through their ownership of the local town. When George Pullman refused to listen to his employees concerns, the situation escalated into a national shutdown of the railroad system. Federal troops ...
Some friends explored buying a company, but due to safety issues in the plant, they decided to pass. Several years later their management team revisited the discussion. One of their leaders proclaimed, “That plant would be safer the day after we buy it, because we care.” Their compassion for the people drove them to reconsider, and ultimately buy the other ...
A personnel practice used by some in corporate America includes eliminating the lowest performing 10% of the workforce each year. Although this may be efficient it certainly overlooks many factors like poor management and good people being asked to do the wrong job. In Ezekiel 34 God has called us to lead as shepherds, rather than tyrants. In verse 4 ...
Many servant leaders have leveraged compassion for others to create a new product or business idea. A great example is Joe Hill. Joe had two young sons with autism who had trouble communicating. Joe’s compassion for his sons’ plight led him to create an IPad application (app) called “Aeir Talk.” The app uses pictures, combined with the parent’s voice, to ...
Equipping Others to Do Work Differently
