Business Lessons from Missionaries

I spend a lot of time with missionaries and mission organizations. They wouldn’t put it this way, but their job is to “sell” a “product” to a culture that is not their own. It's taken them a long time to learn - I cringe at the pain some have caused - but by now, they have learned many lessons about reaching out. They call it “evangelism” but I think they are smart business strategies that can be applied to many groups, both local and overseas. Here are some.

1. Few things are more offensive than someone parachuting into their culture to “convert the heathens.” For hundreds of years, this was the traditional Western missionary approach. While it worked sometimes, it also backfired. Lesson to be learned? When you go somewhere new, you are a guest in their culture and you are not superior. Act humbly until you’ve proven your mettle.

2. It takes time. When I tell people/organizations this, this is usually when they turn off because they are “too busy” to invest the time that it takes to genuinely know a people. But if you don’t know them, how can you possibly reach them? It sometimes takes years or decades before a different culture will trust you enough to allow you into their world. It’s why mission organizations want long-term commitments from their missionaries. In business, you want to reach across cultures – be prepared to spend some time. So-called "quality time" isn't enough. Quantity counts bigtime. This ties in with the next item.

3. Tokenism is not enough. A major organization recently said something to me to the effect of, “We did this six months ago, this last year… and so we just don’t feel we need to do anymore especially as it’s outside our mandate.” Hey, if you want to reach out, it must be on an ongoing sustained basis. If missionaries only did their big efforts at Christmas and Easter, they’d be out of business fast. It’s the everyday being part of the community doing small things that makes them effective. That way when there is a big issue to talk about, the credibility and trust to receive the message is already there.

4. Equip, not convert. One of my mentors was the head a mission organization overseas. Rather than being the focus of attention, his modus operandi was to train a few select individuals who would do a much better job of reaching into the community than he could. When he retired, he had sufficiently trained the locals so that they could do everything themselves. The business lesson here is, “Get the local community involved.” If you want to reach China, get the Chinese involved. You want to reach the First Nations, get First Nations peoples involved. You will never be as effective in getting the marketshare of a community as those that have a lifelong personal stake.

And you thought missionaries were only good for… hmm. What on earth are they good for?