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The 'Billy Graham' of Business

Best-selling author and speaker Zig Ziglar says it's the media's fault. The former salesman turned best-selling author and popular speaker, whose quick wit and humor keeps audiences smiling, says the media have so intimidated people that they think they're not supposed to publicly discuss politics or faith. Yet he can't think of anything more important than our government or belief in God.

"We've got to start talking about it," he says. "I regularly tell my Sunday school class that everyone else is coming out of the closet. It's high time we do, too."

For Ziglar, speaking his mind comes as easily as breathing. And sharing his faith is a continuing experience.

He routinely includes Bible verses with his autograph at book signings. His seminar materials include a chart showing that families who attend church earn $1,100 a month more than those who don't, while enjoying happier marriages and fewer social problems.

"In my seminars I say, 'In order to get all that life has to offer, you've got to get involved in all of life,'" says Ziglar, who released his autobiography in 2002. "'You've got to get involved with the physical, the mental and the spiritual.'"

Ziglar likes to talk about people who complain they don't go to church because there are so many hypocrites there. Everyone knows what a hypocrite is, he laughs: That's the guy who gripes about the sex, violence and nudity on his VCR.

Ziglar also freely shares his faith at optional breakfasts held during seminars that last more than one day and regularly offers people a fish-shaped pin with a "7" on it. The numeral allows wearers to remind curious onlookers that the entire week belongs to Christ "and since Christ is not our part-time God, we do not worship Him on a part-time basis."

"My fellow speakers ask me if I get a lot of criticism for that and I tell them I almost never receive a complaint," the Dallas businessman says. "To show you how bad it has hurt me, I don't use a booking agency and haven't solicited a speaking engagement in over 30 years. My telephone just rings."

Ziglar says that his teachings work because they are God's ideas. "All I do is paraphrase the Bible," he explains. "Those principles have worked for thousands of years. I was broke and in debt when I committed my life to Christ. When I started studying those principles and teaching them, that's when my career exploded."

Ziglar also talks about the impact one righteous man can make, recalling his visit to pastor David Cho's 10,000-seat church in South Korea.

He points out when Cho started in a tent nearly 50 years ago, Buddhism was the nation's dominant religion; today, it is Christianity.

Likewise, he says, businessmen who talk about their faith can help transform the marketplace.

"I regularly get letters from people who say they listened to my [testimony] tape and gave their life to Christ," Ziglar says. "It's my absolute conviction that if a Christian runs his life according to biblical principles and he's consistent, he will have great acceptance and respect among people of other faiths."

By Ken Walker, a freelance writer from Huntington, W.Va., and a regular contributor to New Man. He collaborated with management consultants Chris and Vicki Gaborit on their book, God’s Apprentice. Destiny Image will release it in October 2006.