A Rice University study interviewed 360 American leaders who consider themselves evangelicals and was able to categorize them into four different types according to their method of decision-making. Co-authored by sociologists D. Michael Lindsey from Rice and Bradley C. Smith of Princeton, the study was conducted for Lindsey’s book, Faith in the Halls of Power: How Evangelicals Joined the American Elite and included interviews with former PepsiCo CEO Steve Reinemund, Enron whistleblower Sherron Watkins, senior vice president of Walmart International John Aden, and Cardinals’ quarterback Kurt Warner.
The four categories include “pragmatic” leaders, whose faith assists in decision-making but doesn’t always provide the answers they’re looking for; “heroic” leaders, who see their faith-driven decisions as correct no matter what other people think; “circumspect” leaders, who may not be vocal about their faith but it definitely drives their management and personal decisions; and “brazen” leaders, who see their faith and their work going hand-in-hand.
“I think that the word ‘evangelical’ has been used too broadly in today’s lexicon,” Lindsay said. “We did the study to find what role religion plays in business decision-making and to better define these different evangelicals to better understand their motives.”
To learn more about the study, click here. To see who was interviewed for the study, click here.
