Ethics

From Career to Calling: The Vocation of the Christian Business Leader

Summary: Businesses and market economies are of paramount importance in contributing to the material and even the spiritual well-being of society. However, recent experience has demonstrated the harm caused by the failings of businesses and markets. Business leaders, who are guided by ethical social principles, lived through virtues and illuminated for Christians by the Gospel can nonetheless, succeed and contribute to the common good. The most significant for a business leader on a personal level is leading a “divided” life. This split between faith and daily business practice can lead to imbalances and misplaced devotion to worldly success. The alternative path of faith-based “servant leadership” provides business leaders with a larger perspective and helps to balance the demands of the business world with those of ethical social principles. This is explored through three stages: ideas, elements and fulfill. Business leaders have an unfolding role in creation and faith helps one see a larger world. Business leaders also should create true goods and services, truly goods and services which truly serve. They organize work where employees develop their gifts and talents and create sustainable wealth. Finally, to fulfill, business leaders need to orient, institutionalize and sustain the core values.

Discussion: The golden calf is one of the most important reasons why we saw the failures in our economy and that’s the false idea held by the business leaders. There are many surrogates for the golden calf in business. They emerge when: “the sole criterion for action in business is thought to be the maximization of profit”; when technology is pursued for its own sake; when seeking personal wealth or political influence fails to serve the common good; or when utilitarian or consequential reasoning becomes dominant. Short term profit is everything. No stakeholder analysis, no long term horizon, no...