Little prepares Christian students for a business vocation

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What does the world expect from business professionals? If you watch enough news, it seems that all we expect from many executives is seeking personal profit over integrity and putting extravagance over excellence. The walk to court or to jail has become all too familiar in business. But Steve Little focuses on a different walk in business—the Christian walk. He has been a top business professional who heeded the call to teach at Lipscomb University to teach future business professionals how to hold on to Christian values and still be successful in business.

Little spent 16 years with Ingram Book Group, a division of Ingram Industries, Inc. He served as a senior executive with Ingram Book Group and as chief administrative officer, president, CEO, and chairman of various affiliated companies. But being in business did not draw Little away from his faith or cause him to leave his faith outside the door of his office. “We must not live a bifurcated life,” Little proclaims. “It’s one walk that we have regardless of if we are walking into a corporate boardroom or into the sanctuary.”

That’s what Little tries to emphasize with his students. “I don’t believe in the term business ethics,” Little claims. “It is simply ethics.” Of course, as with any Christian walk, that doesn’t mean the road will always be easy. “Sometimes it is not obvious what is right and wrong,” Little admits. “You have to think about it.” There are tensions in business that may challenge a Christian business professional. But Little hopes to let future business professionals see that despite the tensions, they can and must stay motivated to doing what is right.

Little strives to show that being a good steward and doing what is right is essential to good business even when it involves personal sacrifice. He points to Joseph in the Bible who remained a good steward of Potiphar’s affairs (Genesis 39) without compromising his faith. Faith can inform business decisions no matter what field a person has entered. A preacher and an executive both face challenges and both have the same set of ethics to guide their walk when challenged.

Little’s research shows that Christian values are consistent with what good businesses seek in their employees and leaders. He researches the layoff process in American businesses and how the value of an employee is determined in the decision-making process of who to keep and who to lay off. He acknowledges that sometimes the decision is based purely on contractual terms. At other times, however, the employees deemed most valuable to a company remain while others must leave. His preliminary findings indicate that graduates of Christian colleges and universities are less likely to be selected for layoff than graduates of other colleges and universities.

So why did Steve Little walk away from a career in business to come to Lipscomb University? It wasn’t because he became disenchanted with business. Rather, it was because he saw the value of business in our society. “Business is very powerful,” Little states. “It can do much good, and it can do much harm. The difference is in the character, the values, of those who lead it.” Little wants to see talented people going into business and equip them to do a great job. Little states that his goal is to prepare students to “do well and do good”—both are important. Little shares his business experiences and his faith with his students. By bringing in examples from his previous work, Little can make concepts come alive for the students. They benefit from his teachings and the businesses the students are headed to will benefit from what they learned in his classes. Steve Little makes a difference on and off campus.

--Chris Pepple