The Heart of an Executive.

AT A TIME IN WHICH MANY ESSAYS ON leadership have become boring how-to's - or worse, they carry that New Age stench - The Heart of an Executive, written by Richard D. Phillips, offers a refreshing change. The author is a management consultant, lecturer and executive director of The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, a non-profit publishing and radio-programs organization. Phillips uses the biography of King David to discuss key traits that in the author's view every modern executive should have.

Unlike Martin Puns, author of Comeback (reviewed in the August issue of LATIN TRADE), Phillips doesn't seem to believe that the definition of leadership is an enigma. Nor does he believe that worker loyalty to their bosses is shrouded in mystery. Through the life of David, one of the leading characters of the Old Testament, Phillips defines a paradigm of a leader. He believes that this is an infrequently followed model - and that this is the reason relations between workers and management are in crisis. Phillips casts a critical eye on modern leadership, and his work is an effort to address the state of disrepair in today's executive suites.

Phillips compares an executive's career to the life of David, and his message is an ethical one: Management success is not based on the ability to add up numbers, to fashion short-term plans, to react to temporary setbacks with an equally temporary response, or to satisfy one's personal ambitions. The secret is not in commanding, but in serving. Phillips explains how David's shepherding work as a youth prepared him to lead the people of Israel. A shepherd is the servant of the sheep. He watches over them, helps them find the best pastures and protects them from predators. At night, while the flock rests, the shepherd guards them and plans the next day's activities. The shepherd knows his animals and defends them. They are (what motivate his actions and justify his existence. For a true leader, Phillips says, workers "are persons, not human resources:' and an executive must be ready to serve them."

Phillips does not write for the elite. He wants his message to reach the public, which sometimes makes his writing style somewhat fiat Nevertheless, The Heart of an Executive is an original biography of the king of Israel, in a language appropriate to an era in which poetry fights a losing battle with number-crunching. And don't let the simplicity deceive you: Phillips handles his argument with the expertise of a connoisseur. His comparison of David's mission with the mission of an executive is intelligent and convincing.

There are interesting chapters on the rise and fall of Saul, David's predecessor. Instead of trusting in an invisible God and in the guidance from their judges, the people of Israel wanted a strong, flesh-and-bone leader, just like the monarchs who ruled their adversaries. Saul exhibits all the external qualities of power: He is a commanding presence, likes material possessions and knows how to command. But he lacks a unifying vision to guide the Israelites. That need for a firm, grand design left him politically paralyzed in front of the Philistines, whose hero, Goliath, challenges Israel's warriors each day, without finding any takers. When David, the shepherd, decides to confront Goliath and save Israel from doom as a nation, he has none of the outward trappings of power. He is a simple youth, almost insignificant. But he does have a sense of mission: He wants Israel to survive the sieges of its enemies, while keeping to a path drawn by God. And to that end, he is ready to serve-and to give his life.

This is the principal message of The Heart of an Executive: A leader is not master, but servant, and an executive's plans must be founded on something more solid than the daily movements of the market. They should be based on ideals, on lasting, guiding principles that are at the heart of the enterprise and in harmony with its identity As he follows David's life and compares his challenges to those facing modern executives, Phillips has written a book that makes us think.

Excerpt from The Heart of an Executive:

How many executives today make bold statements about the principles that will guide us into the future, the strategies and the capabilities needed for success--only to throw them all out the window at the first sign of danger or difficulty. Then we wonder why our leadership fails to inspire commitment, just as Saul surely wondered. The issue is that of credibility--is what we are asking of our people credible? Are our words reliable beyond the next voice mail? Do we show ourselves to be committed to the principles and values we publicly espouse?

How many initiatives for customer satisfaction have been undermined by an unwillingness to yield on revenue goals? How many employee empowerment programs have gone the way of King Saul's sacrifice when leaders showed not the slightest willingness to share power? The same thing happens with our statements about employee loyalty, and training and ethics... (page 30)