Corporate Evangelism

Here's a clip from a U.S. News & World Report web article about corporate evangelists:

“But the job of a corporate evangelist is about way more than preaching the wonders of a company to customers and clients. "Evangelism is about selling your dream so that other people believe in it as much as you do," says Guy Kawasaki, former chief evangelist for Apple Computer and one of the key people responsible for marketing the Macintosh in 1984. "Those people then, in turn, get even more people to believe. Just like Jesus was an evangelist who recruited 12 more evangelists."”

This is a great article and this is just a small excerpt. I encourage you to read it in its entirety...after you finish reading this blog, of course.

The words "Evangelism" and "Evangelist" are words that I've heard and used all of my life. They are words that have been used in the "church world" for a couple of thousand years. I find it interesting that progressive corporations, largely in the tech sector, are using terminology like "evangelist" and "evangelism teams".

It's interesting how you can learn a little more about words and actions that you've employed for decades when you see the words and concepts used in a different setting.

Look at some of the phrases from this USN&WR article to describe corporate evangelism and evangelists:

• "Evangelism is about selling your dream so that other people believe in it as much as you do"

I want to be so charged up and passionate about what I believe and the dreams that I hold in my heart that it just overflows into the lives of others. Fact is, if I'm not excited about something then it is going to look pretty dried up to anyone that I try to share it with.

• "Those people then, in turn, get even more people to believe"

Why does the evangelist get even more people to believe? It is because the evangelist believes his message passionately. If I am going to share good news with someone then it had better be good news to me. Good things are contagious.

• "Just like Jesus was an evangelist who recruited 12 more evangelists"

Viral marketing is a growing marketing strategy that is more effective than direct mail or broadcast marketing. Viral marketing leverages social networks to spread news about a service or product. We used to call it "word of mouth" marketing but it is broader than that.

Jesus built an evangelism network with people who were just as passionate (well, almost) as he was about the news that he carried. In fact, I am a part of Jesus' extended network of disciples.

I am an evangelist. I am deeply passionate about the transformation that has happened in my life through my faith in God.

It's not up to me to persuade people to believe something. The work of the evangelist is to feel the message to the core and to believe that people will have a better life by hearing, understanding, and applying the message.