National Conference on
Workplace Chaplaincy
Yale Christian Business Conference
Ethics and Spirituality in the Workplace
On February 17-18, 2006, the Yale School of Management’s Christian Fellowship Club, in partnership with the Yale Center for Faith and Culture, hosted the inaugural Christian Business Conference at the Omni Hotel in New Haven, Connecticut. The conference, aimed at MBA students and entitled "Faith & Ethics in the Workplace," focused on the role of ethics and accountability in corporate leadership. There were approximately seventy-five MBA students in attendance, not only from Yale but also from other prominent programs, including Chicago, Duke, Harvard, MIT, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. There was also impressive degree of diversity along racial, ethic, and gender lines. In addition to the Center’s own David Miller, the students were addressed by six senior corporate executives: David Dunkel, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of KForce, Inc.; Henry “Hank” Higdon, Founder and Managing Partner of Higdon Partners LLC; Dennis E. Pemberton, Jr., Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Global Asset Alternatives LLC; Jill M. Pemberton, Director of Finance, Airport Customer Service/Air Logistics Divisions, Delta Air Lines; Craig E. Philip: President and CEO Ingram Barge Company; and Harri Sundvik, Managing Director of Nordic Investment Banking, JP Morgan plc London. The second annual conference is tentatively scheduled for February 23-24, 2007.
Demonstrating their enthusiastic support for the conference, School of
Management Dean Joel Podolny opened Friday’s events while Divinity
School Dean Harold Attridge commenced Saturday’s. Podolny noted that
corporate accountability is strengthened when one is able to avoid disassociating
oneself from that which one holds to be most important, and that often
includes one’s faith. Applauding the MBA students’ interest
in matters of faith, Attridge pledged the Divinity School’s continued
support to joint ventures such as these. Texas-based musicians Seth and
Amber ignited each day’s events with their uplifting tunes. Husband
and wife Dennis and Jill Pemberton spoke first. Though they discussed several
issues, including how their faith has enabled them to respond to racism
in the marketplace, both focused on the relationship between faith and
moral decision-making on the job. They noted that they both feel compelled
to make moral decisions based upon their faith and that this was their
primary way of closing the Sunday-Monday gap. David Dunkel continued the
theme of faith-based morality, arguing that organizations must set the
correct “tone at the top.” In particular, he noted that in
terms of executive compensation, what is most important is not how much
is earned but how that earning is spent. As such, he argued that persons
of wealth cannot ignore or forget their charitable responsibilities. Hank
Higdon underscored a theme also noted by Dunkel: the importance of trust.
Higdon pointed out that despite the various temptations and fears that
a corporate leader must face, giving in to them reflects a lack of trust
in a higher power’s ability to overcome them—something that
should be anathema to a person of faith. The students were also pleased
to hear Higdon, a leader in executive searching, list what he took to be
an executive’s nine most important characteristics.
Like the other speakers, Philip was quick to point out the importance of
faith in making moral decisions. Adopting the sports metaphor of “muscle memory,” Philip
emphasized that it is important to practice one’s faith on daily matters
of seeming insignificance so that one is prepared at “game time”—at
times of great trial. Philip also argued that the best corporate culture is modeled
after a family. Like families, corporations can suffer from the same problems
and dysfunction. However, if, like a family, an organization can ensure fairness,
trust, fun, and security, then it will create and sustain a desirable workplace
for all employees. Harri Sundvik echoed Philip’s sentiment about muscle
memory, noting that one needs to be committed to principles early in one’s
career, long before the strenuous tests of the business world arrive. Using several
cases to illustrate his ideas, Sundvik stressed the need for transparency. And
he reminded his audience that transparency, whether one wishes it or not, often
extends outside the office, so “be prepared to open all your books at any
time.” In drawing the previous presentations together, David Miller concluded
with a discussion of what he calls “spheres of integration.” He
argued that people of faith often integrate their faith into their work in one
of four ways: by their ethics, by experiencing their work as a calling rather
than simply a job, by practicing spiritual disciplines to enrich a faith that
they see tied to their work, and by evangelizing. While several of the speakers
clearly fit into one sphere or another, the challenge for all—speakers
and students—is to move out of one’s primary sphere and enter into
others, hopefully developing a more comprehensive unity of faith and work.
Throughout the conference, there was a spirit of openness to discuss
what are often divisive topics; a general hunger to learn from each other
and the executives; a willingness to be challenged and to grow; and a
desire to live a life of faithfulness and effectiveness in and through
the marketplace. One sensed that the executives came away as moved and
as enthusiastic as the students. Indeed, David Dunkel concluded his address
with the following: "I think this has been a fantastic
start. But it is a start. I think you need to think bigger. I challenge you to
go from 75 attendees this weekend, to 5,000 in 5 years!"