Bruce Barton the Mna Nobody Knows free essay sample

Who was this man that nobody knew? Jesus! But everyone knows who Jesus was. Jesus was the Savior of all mankind; he is the man that is portrayed in the paintings, a flabby looking guy, weak and very peaceful. So wait, is this a different Jesus in a different part of the world? Was it another man named Jesus? What do you know about Jesus that I do not? These are all questions that Bruce Barton answers in his book. In the beginning of Barton’s book, he describes what he thought of Jesus and what the world view of Jesus was at the time. Bruce Barton as a child saw Jesus as â€Å"the lamb of God†, but he did not understand what that meant, to him it sounded more like â€Å"Mary’s little lamb†. (3)Bruce Barton did not look at Jesus as he did to Daniel, who stood off the lions, or David who landed a stone in the forehead of Goliath, or even Moses who brought the Hebrews out of slavery. (3) To him these three men were heroes, winners, survivors, Jesus was just â€Å"a pale young man with flabby forearms and a sad expression†. 3) Bruce soon realized that Jesus was none of those measly things; Jesus was the strong, a great person, and the founder of modern business, and if any business man would want to succeed in life he must follow in the footsteps of Jesus. There are many themes in Bruce Barton’s book the man nobody knows, but the ultimate theme of the book is a guide on how to become the ultimate business leader. There are some key areas that will be described in this essay, how to lead, methods on doing so, and how to keep the business running. The dominant theme in Bruce Barton’s book is business. In my opinion I believe Barton wrote this book as a guide for future business leaders. In his opening paragraph he describes how â€Å"a big man takes a firmer hold† (6) when the day is late. Any person can be in tip top shape in the morning, but it takes a true leader to be on top of his game in the late afternoon. Barton again describes this type of leader from a saying that napoleon said â€Å"that he had met few men with courage of the â€Å"two-o’clock in the morning variety. Many men can be brave in the warmth of the sun and amid the heartening plaudits of the crowd; but to be awakened suddenly out of sound sleep, and then to exhibit instant mastery-that is the type courage which is rare indeed. † (28). this leader Barton is describing was Jesus, amidst of all the things he had to do, he always kept his cool, he always said the right things at the right time. A great lesson that many leaders can take from Jesus, is when his disciples ask Jesus to â€Å"call down fire from heaven and consume† (7) the people of a village that denied to host them for the night. What would a modern (1920s) leader do when he is approached with such a request? Maybe respond with a smart remark against that request, or maybe denounce the fellow that brought forth the remark, or maybe do what Jesus did, just keep silent. This was one of those times when silence is the answer. Barton says that â€Å"there are times when nothing a man can say is nearly so powerful as saying nothing Silence convicts them of their folly; they wish they had not spoken so quickly. † (7) Every person can take that statement to heart, sometimes no matter what you say, any word is the wrong word. A great illustration of this is when Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well. In the times of Jesus, there was a hatred that existed between the Jews and the Samaritans. This situation seems to be impossible exclaims Barton, How could Jesus give his message to someone who is â€Å"forbidden by everything holy to listen? † Barton says that â€Å"there are times when any word is the wrong word; when only silence can prevail† (48) Jesus responded to the woman with a single sentence, and with this sentence he was able captivate her into listening to what he had to say. 48) Barton uses this example to show that being in a position of high status creates a great deal on what you have to say. Whatever comes out of your mouth you must make sure as a business leader you are going to captivate your audience with every single word. This type of skill was not the only thing needed to become a great business leader. Barton says that Jesus â€Å"had the voice and manner of the l eader-the personal magnetism that begets loyalty and commands respect. (13) Barton’s guide for future leaders was basing itself on one of the best leaders of all time. He himself was a business man, and in his time in the period of the 1920s, radio and advertising was becoming the new phenomenon. Posters, newspapers, advertising were everywhere, but how was one to become great in an era when everyone was trying to be the best? Barton uses Jesus as an example because; Jesus took twelve unknown men, and created the greatest organization in the world. Barton says that there was no need for a new religion because there were already so many, so why would Jesus’ religion be more special than others? You can use that as a metaphor for Barton’s time; in a time when there are so many advertisers how can one become the cream of the crop? Well, using Jesus as an example he says that Jesus’ â€Å"blazing conviction was the first and greatest element† (15) in his success. The second was his â€Å"marvelous instinct for discovering their latent powers, and third was his unwavering faith and patience. (18) In 1920 with the rise of unions, and associations, and bigger business a business leader can only succeed if he is willing to put in 100% of himself, along with choosing the right people to support him, and probably most of all would be his patience, because business do not become great overnight, they take time, and they take a lot of failures. When Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, he said he only needed one way to invent a light bulb, but he found 2500 hundred others on how not to invent it. Patience is the key ingredient in creating a great leader. After becoming a leader, one must be able to maintain his position as leader, and how would one do so? Well Barton gives a multitude of examples in his book that relate much to his time period. In Barton’s book, he makes some references too many leaders throughout American history, such as Abraham Lincoln and several others. In Abraham Lincoln’s example we see how he dealt with pressures that were put on him for not winning the battles of the civil war by his cabinet members. Barton describes the incident when Abraham Lincoln sends a letter to the secretary of war, and the secretary tore it up and called the president a fool. Lincoln replied â€Å"I reckon it must be true then, because Stanton is generally right† (8). Here we can see how Barton was trying to create metaphors from the 1860s with the 1920s. To be a great leader, we said you must choose the correct people to be around you and to support you, and what is the importance of them if you are not going to listen to them. Barton seems to imply throughout the book that he is a team player, and to be a great leader you must be a team player. You must be able to lead and put your foot down when it is necessary just as did Jesus when he kicked out the Pharisees out of the temple courtyard for exploiting the gifts of the poor for the Lord, you must also be able to put aside your ego and pride and listen to your council, because you picked them for a reason, to help you succeed in your business. Barton also describes others that came from simple backgrounds as did Jesus such as â€Å"an international financier-the son of a poor country parson†¦a great newspaper proprietor-he came from a tiny town in Maine, the president of the world wide press association-a copy boy in a country newspaper office† (10) he describes these men not to show that poor can become wealthy but to show that anyone can become a business leader if they put their mind to it. Barton illustrates a conversation he had with H. G. Wells on all the people who fought for fame, for all those who rose above the common level. Wells responds with a group of six people. Jesus was his number one person on the list. He says that the leaders who are remembered in this world are those who live in service as did Jesus. Barton uses Thomas Jefferson as an example to prove his point; out of all the things Jefferson did he wanted to be remembered on his tomb with the things he gave to others, and to the country. Barton’s mindset seems to focus on the idea of service how Jesus did. He tells how he went to a private banking house after it was closed for the day. Everyone had gone home except the partners; they were going the extra mile just as Jesus said to do. Jesus replied to an answer of who will be the greatest in heaven. Jesus replied that â€Å"whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister, and whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be your servant† (77). Barton seems to reiterate this idea several times in his book, once when he was on a train heading toward a city with a few others on a business trip. They were not supposed to be ready until ten that morning, so they took their time, went to get breakfast, and to be comfortable, but what Barton remembers is that he passed a room where a gentleman who was well off, already leader in many ways, was buried in his work way before they reached their destination. The experiences that Barton had to his understanding was what Jesus said to do, that â€Å"whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain† (80), or â€Å"if your forever thinking about saving your life, you’ll lose it; but the man who loses his life shall find it† (78). Barton tried to follow the steps of Jesus, the founder of modern business. He noticed that all the people he had encounters with had done some of what Jesus had said to do 1900 years prior. Barton’s mindset seems to imply that if you want your business to succeed you must lead by example as did Jesus. Barton definitely wanted us to look more fondly toward the future. At the end of his book he talks about Jesus as the master and the founder of modern business. Jesus was the founder of modern business; he was the role model that men should aspire to. He showed them how to be calm in the middle of crises and have faith in your leader when things seem to be falling apart as it was when they were all on the sea and storms were crashing against their vessel. Jesus showed how a leader can stimulate his crowd by speaking to his crowd with things that the crowd can assimilate with. When Jesus told parables he always made sure that the crowd he was speaking to could assimlilate to his story. When he spoke to farmers he spoke about growing seeds, and different types of palces seeds fall, or when he spoke to the fishermen, he told them, come with me and I will make you fishers of men. These were things these people could compare with. Jesus also showed them his business philosophy: â€Å"Who ever will be great must render great service, whoever will find himself at the top must be willing to lose himself at the bottom, and the big rewards come to those who travel the second, undermanned mile† (83) Jesus showed Barton that men who have â€Å"no interest in life outside the office†¦have never once forgotten themselves they have forgotten everything else† (89) Jesus who could have easily been accepted as king of the Jews, denied that privilege so that his business in preaching the gospel could go on. Barton believed that Jesus refused to turn aside from his business to become king, that he was never too busy to turn aside for a sick man, a friend, a little child† (89). Barton truly believed in how Jesus lived his life that it was better to give then to receive, and so Barton put that into a business plan. If you truly wish to succeed you must give your all into your business, so that it may prosper, and if you do that, you will then receive in return. So, if you truly wish to be the ultimate leader, you must heed the advice of Barton, who took his inspiration from Jesus.