By Jason Collum, AFA Journal staff writer

September 2002 – Enron. WorldCom. Adelphia Communications.  Qwest Communications. Global Crossing. AOL Time Warner. Martha Stewart.

Who can you trust anymore? And, equally troubling, who can trust you, and why should they?

The corporate and stock scandals of 2002 have badly shaken the confidence of many investors and depleted – and in some cases completely erased – the retirement portfolios of many individuals. As a result, what appeared earlier this year to be a comeback in the economy may have been stymied through the multi-million dollar misdeeds of some in corporate America.

The culture of greed that existed long before this year of scandal was what led Michael Pink in 1993 to found the Strategic Resource Institute. More recently, Pink launched a program aimed at helping Christians hold their own in the business world, and even be very successful, without becoming just another one of the wolves.

“Selling Among Wolves … Without Joining the Pack!” has attracted thousands of men and women to conferences across America interested in being beacons in the business world.

The program aims to equip Christians with Biblical tools so they can win in the marketplace. The SAW program isn’t to be confused with many of the motivational business programs being offered nowadays, though.

“This is not some kind of secular program that we’ve cleaned up, and put a few Bible verses on it,” Pink said.

Pink said the business scandals of 2002 provide even more evidence that Biblically-based marketplace strategies are needed now more than ever before.

“Corporate America, as an entity, has lost its way,” Pink said. “There’s a verse of Scripture (Isaiah 65:11) that talks about – depending on the translation – the gods of money or fortune, and the deity of destiny. I think that in America, including many of God’s people, they’ve chosen new gods – they’re after fame and fortune. There needs to be a clarion call in the marketplace that realigns our values, our purposes.  God is a jealous God. The first commandment is ‘Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.’ That includes the god of fame and fortune and the god of destiny.”

AFA President Tim Wildmon echoes Pink’s assessment, adding that today’s culture of moral relativism is also to blame.

“A lot of these [corrupt corporate leaders] think what they’re doing is OK because they’ve said in their own minds, ‘This is OK, because I’m just trying to get the stock price up,’ or whatever,” Wildmon said.

How the program works
According to the SAW Web site, “succeeding in sales is not about becoming a smarter wolf, a nicer wolf, a Christian wolf, or in some way a better wolf. No, succeeding in sales is about out-serving your competition in the best interest of your customer.”

“One of the things we talk about is negotiating,” Pink said, “knowing how to do that, and doing it ethically is a very big deal. I read a letter from someone the other day asking, ‘When you bluff in negotiating, when you indicate one thing is true when that’s not the case, is that moral or immoral? Is that the same as like in the game of basketball when you fake to the left but go to the right?’ And that was an honest question.

“I have a Harvard textbook here called The Art and Science of Negotiating, and it has a subtext called ‘Strategic Misrepresentation.’ It’s all about  lying. It says there’s a time when it is appropriate to lead the other party into a deception. I say there isn’t.

“One of the things we do is give people hope,” Pink said. “What they walk away from [the program] with, are the skills on how they can succeed. They find out how they can actually take Biblical strategies and principles, apply them successfully in a competitive market, and win.”  

For more information
Selling Among Wolves has begun a program called CPR (Carpe Porta Raptim), which is Latin for “Seize the City Gates – Rapidly.” The Basic CPR program, for $11.95 per month, provides practical, Biblical teaching to help individuals and companies improve the revenue side of their business. The program comes in the form of a weekly Bible study sent out via e-mail.

The advanced CPR is $16.95 (plus $3 shipping and handling) per month. The advanced program goes beyond the practical teaching of Scripture and more into what founder Michael Pink calls the “power principles.” Each month, in addition to the weekly Bible study, Selling Among Wolves also sends out an audio cassette with Pink’s latest findings in Scripture as they relate to equipping Christians to take back the gates of commerce. For more information on the CPR programs, or to find out about upcoming Selling Among Wolves seminars, contact the Strategic Resource Institute by either option below:

• Online: www.sellingamongwolves.com
• Phone: (toll-free) 877-254-3047