Holding the Balance of Enterprise and Faith Beckett: Chairman of RW Beckett Corporation, the largest manufacturer of hot oil furnaces in the United States

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Beckett is a highly decorated CEO. First, he wrote a best-selling business book - "Loving Monday: Succeeding in Business Without Selling Your Soul" (Loving Monday: Succeeding in Business Without Selling Your Soul, Chinese translation campus publishing). Second, he took charge of The highly successful Bayer Company, the number one hot oil furnace manufacturing company in the United States. Third, he was invited to be a special guest on the ABC (American Broadcasting Corporation) national television news network's "Faith and Enterprise" program hosted by the well-known anchor Peter Jennings.

In 1937, Mr. RW Beckett and Stanton Fitzgerald established Beckett Company. In 1965, Beckett took over leadership of the company after his father's death. At that time, Best Company only accounted for 3% of the US hot oil furnace market. Today, Best Company has three companies providing diversified services, with more than 500 employees, an annual turnover of more than 100 million US dollars, and occupies 80% of the US market.

Best's beautiful headquarters and factory are located in Elyria, Ohio. It has won many business awards, including for its employee development programs. Here's what Beckett said about the relationship between business and faith:

Q: Is there any intersection between business and faith?

A: One of the obviously gratifying things I see today is that there is more and more intersection between faith and business. Early on, I felt that people's work was almost completely disconnected from their faith, to the point where the two had nothing to do with each other. Now there is more and more intersectionality because people want to live a life that integrates and practices their faith. They don't want to be one kind of person at one time in their lives and another kind of person at another time.

Q: You are running a company solely owned by yourself. How would you operate it if it were changed to a listed company?

A: I don't think my approach to doing things would be that much different. There's no doubt that that was a different situation involving outside shareholders and analysts. However, I know that some of the entrepreneurs you have interviewed, even though they are running publicly traded companies, have figured out what kind of leaders they need to be. I know some business leaders who embrace a "whole person" approach and don't have to compromise their beliefs just because they have outside shareholders. However, they do need more communication with external shareholders so that they can understand their business philosophy and model.

Take Ralph Larson of Johnson & Johnson as an example. He has made it clear that he hopes to maintain high ethical standards in this large, publicly traded company. Decisions based on morality may affect short-term income, but he still insists, "I am thinking about the long term, and I believe that one must be consistent in the true way of life."

As managers, Christians have to make employee-related decisions just like everyone else. I believe that regardless of whether employees believe in the Lord or not, they must discuss matters from the perspective of business operations. That may mean laying off or laying off fellow believers. I will encourage laid-off employees at the appropriate time to appreciate God’s hand and guidance in the process, and believe that if God closes one door, He will open it elsewhere. In the long run, this attitude towards life will be beneficial to them throughout their lives.

Ten years ago, I had to fire a newly married young man who had just started working because he failed a drug test. Recently, I happened to chat with his wife, a dental assistant who was cleaning my teeth. She suddenly said, "I want to thank you because when you fired my husband, you said to him: 'It's all your choice. You can continue to live your life and ruin your life, or you can take your chances. , start a new and fruitful life. "That passage deeply impacted him, and it really made him change his lifestyle and quit his drug addiction. Today, he holds a senior position and is a good father and husband. "

Today, ten years later, she thanked me not only for firing her husband, but also for giving him advice, guiding him in the direction of his life, and even saving their marriage because of it! At that time, I felt that the Lord was really good and gave me such encouragement, which made my visit to the dentist even more joyful!

Q: How much influence does the Bible have on your daily company life?

A: great influence. In fact, I strive to understand the Bible better every day and apply my Bible reading experience to my work that day. I find that every time I do this, I almost always find scripture that applies to the decisions I need to make in my business.

A few days ago, I met with a senior business leader in Boston. Over lunch, he talked about his own personal struggles. The wonderful thing was that a verse that had been read just a few hours earlier shone brightly and touched my mind and greatly encouraged him.

Q: Currently, how many employees does your company have? Is it possible for you to know every employee?

A: There are about 550 employees in the company, divided into three independent departments; and the department with which I have the most direct contact has about 200 employees. For this department, the answer is yes, and for other departments where I am not directly involved, I don’t know everyone so well. But I think there were 150 to 200 of them, and I definitely knew them by name and had a good rapport with them.

Q: If the company grows larger, how will you ensure that many employees adhere to the values of "Baix Company"?

A: This is a huge challenge. But if it's important, there must be a way to do it. Start by ingraining the company's core values into other leaders, who can then reinforce those values in more people.

I just met with Don Soderquist, who recently retired as senior vice president of Wal-Mart, the largest retail chain in the United States, with 1.5 million employees. He mentioned how they integrated the company's three core values into employee training plans, new employee training plans and follow-up plans, and he was convinced that this policy played a big role. Likewise, any effort to establish a corporate culture based on correct values will surely yield results.

Another example is Gen. Chuck Krulak, who until recently was the commander of the Marine Corps. General Guo influenced the entire Marine Corps with a solid value system. Does everyone follow it completely? not necessarily. But they all knew exactly where the Marines stood. At the same time, the Marine Corps is the "most successful" force among all services when it comes to recruiting new recruits, because its members are willing to follow those creeds and bring out the best in themselves.

▲A glance at the company manual.

Q: What advice do you have when a young person says to you, “I want to go into business”?

A:First of all, I encourage young people in general to get more education, try to absorb all kinds of knowledge about business, lay a broad foundation, and develop some special skills.

If they are brothers and sisters in the Lord, I would encourage them to pray seriously for the career they wish to engage in first, and seek and confirm whether there is a calling from God. In this way, their life direction is more than just personal impulse or their own wishes.

Additionally, I would encourage them to find a mentor, someone they can emulate. I encourage them to read widely and broaden their minds and horizons through excellent business management books.

Q: Can you recommend some excellent business management books that are meaningful to you? And tell me how it helped you.

A:The most valuable book I have ever read, for Christians, may be more than just a selection of good books on business management, it is "Secular Work" written by Larry Peabody Secular Work Is Full-Time Service.

This is a book that studies the Old Testament character Daniel. Daniel was a very capable young man who was called to public service. We see him holding high administrative responsibilities and working for several very worldly kings, yet he is uncompromising in his beliefs! To me, Daniel’s life story is an amazing example of how people can follow the Lord in secular circumstances and have a huge impact.

*Excerpted from the book Corporate Giants: Personal Stories of Faith and Finance, by Bob Darden, Robert Darden, and PJ Richardson, published by FH Revell, 2002. The Chinese version was translated by Mo Zhuoyijuan and reviewed by Gao Lili. It will be published by American Eagle Press in the near future and is published with permission.

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Beckett was one of the most remarkable people I have ever known, and his life displayed a wonderful balance of spiritual maturity and corporate vision.
∼Comments by Bill Bright of Campus Crusade

Best Company is founded on three core values:
Integrity, excellence and genuine respect for everyone.
Best Company is committed to cultivating beautiful interpersonal relationships every day:
Provide employees with a working environment where they can grow and enjoy benefits;
To customers, supply them with well-made and reasonably priced products;
Treat suppliers and other business contacts with respect and fairness.
We strive to serve others and meet the needs of human society.
∼Bess Company Corporate Policy (Excerpted from the Bets Company Handbook)