REPORT

PERSONAL CHRISTIAN BUSINESS ATTRIBUTES

The marketplace is a competitive environment that provides opportunity for all, Christian and non-Christian, to compete for market share. This environment requires participants to exercise attention to detail, a global perspective and organizational stewardship. The business person today is a hybrid of these important requirements. A successful business person today has a higher demand than just the profitability of the business. The commitment to profitability, though essential, also demands from the business a responsibility to the environment, employees, and the community.

The marketplace is a competitive environment that provides opportunity for all, Christian and non-Christian, to compete for market share."

Do attention to detail, a global perspective, environmental issues, employee fairness, giving back to the community and organizational stewardship outline the expectations of a Christian business person? What attributes come to mind that will assist a Christian business person toward accomplishing all that is expected? Employee attributes can and will contribute to operating successfully in a competitive market environment.

The Exhibit G below identified fifteen (15) attributes that contribute to a successful employee. The comparison below identified participants in the same business industry, however, one group in church employment the other in a non-church environment.

The consensus seems to be that a Christian business person will model Christian stewardship! The surveyed group identifies this person as one who demonstrates accountability, integrity, trustworthiness, dependability and honors commitments.

” The successful business person is a hybrid, and embodies the management concept of being a steward. "

What is stewardship for a Seventh-day Adventist? “Stewardship is a fundamental doctrine for a Seventh-day Adventist Christian, based in the belief that God, at creation, established the first humans as the caretakers of the world, and that this responsibility has passed to all progeny of that original couple.” The successful business person is a hybrid, and embodies the management concept of being a steward. A steward does more than just manage—though that is an integral part of stewardship. I believe a steward goes beyond the bottom line and encompasses attention to detail, a global perspective, environmental issues, employee fairness, giving back to the community and organizational stewardship. It was Peter Drucker who defined Christian Stewardship, though it was not his intention, with the following statement that has been a guiding concept for me and one which I want to share with you: “Management is doing things right, Leadership is doing the right thing.”2

1. Douglas Christian Larsen: eHow Contributer, at http://www.ehow.com/facts_5895456_stewardship-seventh_day-adventist_.html.

2. Peter Drucker: Essential Drucker: Management, the Individual and Society at http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/6859293-essential-drucker-the.

Gary Dodge
Director: Planned Giving and Trust Services, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

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