1. A Lesson from Apple and Pepsi
Years ago I had a good friend and mentor who was a Vice President for Pepsi. He lived in Dayton, and flew to Boston every week to work, returning home for the weekend. He confirmed a story about his boss, John Scully, that I had heard in my MBA program.
It seems that when Steve Jobs realized being CEO wasn’t his best role for Apple, he flew to Boston and tried to convince Skully to leave Pepsi and join Apple. It is an intriguing story. Jobs convinced a reluctant Skully to join him with a pointed question “What do you want to do with the rest of your life, sell sugar water…or come with me and change the world?” (That may be my paraphrase, but it’s close). Well, the rest is history, this CEO of a soft drink and snack company left the East coast and headed to California to lead perhaps the most innovative tech company in modern history.
The question is “HOW COULD HE DO THAT?” Sugar water and potato chips are a far cry from hard drives and micro chips! The answer is one you’ve probably already learned as well: Effective leadership truths and practices transfer! Leading people, growing an organization, meeting the needs of constituents whether you call them customers, clients or patients has striking similarities from one leadership role and organization to the next.
2. Lessons Over Breakfast
That is why I’m thankful I have been able to learn helpful principles and practices in my own career from a wide variety of mentors. They include leaders in business, government , the Air Force, psychologists and psychiatrists, a consultant for Detroit auto makers, and a few pastors of mega-churches…the list goes on. If you’re wondering “how did he get those people to mentor them?” Let me explain; I never had someone offer to be a mentor, I just looked for high capacity leaders (regardless of their field) and asked if we could connect over breakfast, lunch or coffee.
I find most busy successful people can more easily carve out an early morning breakfast from their day than other times. Then, for the price of bacon and eggs and armed with lots of questions about their leadership experience and insights, I’ve received priceless insights, tips and encouragement that I was able to TRANSFER to my own field of leadership.
3. Lessons at the Global Leadership Summit
Knowing the transferrable insights I could gain from other leaders (non-pastoral) is why I quickly fell in love with the Global Leadership Summit that was launched in Chicago in August of 1995. It was worth the drive to spend two days to hear world leaders from every field share their insights and lessons learned. They shared, I took notes…and I did the translating. I’m a better leader and person because of lessons learned from others from different fields. I was thrilled when our campus became a simulcast site for the GLS and remains so to this day. Hundreds of thousands of people attend the GLS annually around the globe whether in person where the conference is held in Chicago, at a remote venue, or through streaming it personally or in their office or work group.
I recently finished 45 years of my career in pastoral ministry. When I left my role as the Lead of that awesome organization after 34 years (plus 7 years at the same place as the “number 2 guy”) we had grown to an million dollar annual budget. We “gave away” almost 40% of those funds to other non-profit and relief agencies that didn’t have donor exposure like we did in a congregation of almost 2,500 people on a weekend. As a pastor, my skills were sharpened by people from other disciplines whether at the GLS, in my one-on-one breakfast discussions, or my formal education.
My education was diverse and served me well. My undergrad degree was in Management AND Biblical Studies. A great combination for a career that required theological expertise, along with management and leadership acumen (budgets, buildings, IT, HR, etc.) I also have an MBA, a Masters in Counseling and Psychology, and a Doctorate in Conflict Management. Yes, I love to learn.
And now, I’m learning that learning continues. This time it’s about how to step off the platform of a big church, and into a new career. My goal is to be the “wind beneath the wings” of leaders who are learners who might benefit from the transferrable insights I’ve gained in the first 45 years of my career. I’m already excited about new things I’ll learn from them in this new phase of my career.
Putting Learning Into Action
You can imagine my joy when I had the opportunity to speak at the Global Leadership Summit in Eswatini Africa this past March, 2025. I had helped them become a GLS site several years ago (International sites show recorded talks from the summit, and include a handful of “Live” guests) and they draw 1,000 government, business, civic and church leaders to two days of learning and inspiration.
My first session was about Team Valuing (I believe that is a prerequisite to ‘team building’). I did a presentation I call “Flip the Org chart…learning to value the Organization Population.” My second session was about “Partnerships that work, partnerships that last.” I was able to speak from experience from my involvement in that small, beautiful and challenged country since 2007!
Whether in Africa, inner city Dayton…with business executives, leaders in the field of psychiatry, professors or pastors, I have learned much and have more to learn. Hopefully I also have a lot to give, and I enjoy it when I feel I’ve added to leaders in my world.
I encourage you, never stop learning. You too can tap into the wisdom and insights that others around you have gained from education, experience, and the school of hard knocks. Read, listen to podcasts, watch other leaders, ask questions…and maybe even buy someone breakfast now and then (served up with your best “How did you do that?” questions!) Also, don’t forget you have something to offer the curious learners around you! Find ways to “add value” to the people in your work world. Everyone appreciates encouragement and appreciation. You don’t have to be a perfect example, you can also help people immensely by sharing from your pain…so it can be their gain. Whether success or not-so-successful, life lessons are some of the best things to share…especially over some bacon and eggs, or a good cup of coffee!
Dr. Stan J. Tharp, MBA 