Hill Shares 'Leadership Essentials for 21st Century'

April 8, 2013

Grounded in 20-plus "Leadership Essentials for the 21st Century," Ross Hill, CEO of Bank2 in Oklahoma City, presented OBU's 2013 Minter Lectureship in Business, Leadership and Christian Ministry Monday, April 8, in Bailey Business Center.

Hill said as he prepared for the annual OBU lectureship, he considered the possibility of who could be listening. Among the students present, he said, might exist America's future president, America's first female president, the next Billy Graham, the next Abraham Lincoln, the next Neal Armstrong, or other representatives of successful people in history. Hill asked students to consider that God has fully equipped them for whatever plans they were created to fulfill.

He shared Scripture from 2 Corinthians 10:3-6, in "The Message" version: "The world is unprincipled. It's dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn't fight fair. But we don't live or fight our battles that way - never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren't for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity."

Hill gave students illustrations of real-life people who fulfill the characteristics he considers essential to successful leaders. Hill's essential leadership attitudes and actions include: Prayer, service, accountable, honesty, integrity, conservative, responsible, prudent, integrity, team, vision, love, encourager, excellence, faith, moral, kindness, bond and word. He said he leads Bank2 employees to model these attributes to fulfill the bank's mission statement, to help people build better lives.

When a family faced repossession of their vehicles, Hill told how bank employees listened to the family's story of a mother stricken with cancer, a father trying to provide and a high school daughter tying the family's loose ends together. The bank's loan committee recommended the employees gather resources to pay off the car loan to help the strapped family. Hill said he was not involved in the plan or the process; he testified how the Bank2 employees have caught a vision for serving others. Employees not only paid for the vehicle loan, but also provided Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners for the family.

Hill said the United States needs leaders who will stand as ambassadors for God in their workplaces and in their lives. He said such leaders are not meek, mild people, but rather those who find a way to share the Gospel message with authority.

At Bank2, Hill said he has a vase which he uses as a tool to share the Gospel message with every person who enters his office. He said new employees and visitors alike hear about Jesus Christ, a message he shares boldly.

"I'm not listening to anyone who says we can't talk about our faith at work - we can, and we do," Hill said. "We are called to be different. We're here for a reason. I could let Bank2 operate and not use it as a platform for God, but that's not what I've been called to do."

Each day, Hill said he prays that God will direct his every word, action and attitude so his life is a good reflection on God. Believing firmly in the power of prayer and trusting God has a plan for his world, Hill co-founded Circle714, a call for Christians to pray for revival. The effort is based on Scripture in 2 Chronicles 7:14, which says, "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land" (NIV).

Hill said the goal of Circle714 is for 10 million people to commit to pray each day for revival. With God at the helm of any endeavor, he told the students, anything is possible.

"Your time is at hand - it is now," Hill said. "You were created for this time on Earth. God has given you every gift you need to be successful. God has called you to be nation-changers for the 21st century. Do something that's worth the blood of Jesus Christ, because he shed it for you."

In closing, Hill shared a mantra he wrote for OBU for today: "I am a leader - a nation-changer. (God) has equipped me and called me for this specific time in history. I will hear him say, 'Well done!'"