There was an article I read recently by Nick Lichtenberg in Fortune.  In it, he described the characteristics that distinguished the best Fortune 500 CEOs from the rest of the pack.  I could not help but see a lesson in it for those of us wanting to live truly engaged, remarkable faiths.   

The article shared the following quote:

The high-performing leaders studied in the book distinguish themselves through a pervasive “curiosity and learning mindset,” which came through in “almost every interview,” Dewar said in an interview with Fortune.

The top leaders are the first to admit they don’t know everything, Strovink told Fortune. “It wasn’t that they were superhuman. It’s that they learned faster, they were more adaptable and they had structures … institutionalized methods for being able to neutralize their excesses and capitalize on their strength and edge.”

First, notice the ‘learning mindset’ of these top leaders.  They all shared this trait, and we must also.  We should guard against any belief that we know all we need to know about our faith and how best to live it.  We should be curious about what more there is to learn and how we can improve.  Let’s face it, the mysteries, depth, and complexities of the faith are a well we know we cannot run dry in this life, so we should be exploring it. Moreover, for men who are just entertaining the idea of faith in God at all, this is an encouraging signal.  It means you share something in common with businesses’ best leaders, so stay curious.  Keep exploring. 

Second, notice these top CEO’s are not superhuman, but adaptable to new ideas (learned from their curiosity no doubt) and very importantly ‘had structures … institutionalized methods’ to minimize their excesses (i.e., flaws) and then make the most of their strengths. 

In the faith, we can consider sacrifice, the virtues, and discipline to be our ‘institutionalized methods’ that neutralize our flaws, re-order our passions and our wills to choose what is truly good.  If we build the infrastructure of our lives on these foundational concepts, they will always direct us toward Him, thus growing our faith and leading us to His abundance as He sees fit to bestow upon our lives. 

Though perhaps an unlikely set of teachers, I hope you can see how these top CEOs set themselves apart and set themselves up for success by always learning, adapting, and creating structures around them that decrease the potential for failure. We, as men of faith, should learn from their example and be equally successful in what matters to us – our faith.

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