UK’s Financial Times on Mormons in Business

On July 5, 2010, the London Financial Times printed an article by James Crabtree about Mormons in business in America.  (See the full article here.)  The article is titled “The Rise of a New Generation of Mormons,” and speaks mostly of Mormons who are rising stars in business, some are famous Mormons.  They are in their 30′s and 40′s and are found everywhere in America.

The article profiles Ben McAdams, 35, a moderate Democrat, and Utah’s youngest state senator.  He went to work at Davis Polk, a prestigious law firm, right after graduating from Columbia Law School.  He also worked for Bill and Hillary Clinton before entering politics.  He has helped broker a deal in Utah for gay rights.  He’s a family man, one of six kids, and father of three.  McAdams is one of a growing crowd of talented, well-educated Mormons exercising leadership in business, on Wall Street, and in government.  Says the Financial Times article, “Mormons are moving from the periphery of modern American life to the very center.”  Mormons are playing central roles at the companies and institutions that make America tick.  JP Morgan interviews potential hires from Harvard, Princeton, Yale, University of Pennsylvania, and Brigham Young University.

“The CIA has its eye out for Mormons, who, people say jokingly, ace the mandatory drugs and lie-detector tests. Blue-chip corporations are recruiting, too. And at Harvard Business School, female students note ruefully that attractive male classmates are invariably associated with one of the “three Ms”: the military, the management consultancy McKinsey or Mormonism.”

In spite of the “image problem” the LDS Church suffers (sometimes viewed as a cult, or merely straight-laced), elite institutions are embracing Mormons.  The Financial Times article calls The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints “the outstanding religious success story of the past hundred years.”  It cites the amazing growth of the Church (250,000 members in 1900, one million in 1948, and 14 million today), and the wealth of the Church (25 to 30 billion dollars). “Religious sociologist Rodney Stark, at Baylor University in Texas, has predicted that the LDS will in the latter half of this century become the first new world religion since Islam.”

In trying to explain the success of the LDS Church and its burgeoning force of leaders in business, the article cites the fact that (according to the Pew Forum Report) “the church’s most successful members, in terms of education and wealth, are also its most fervent. In most religions, piety and professional success mix badly. Devout Jews earn less, and tend to be less educated, than their less-orthodox brethren. American Christian evangelicals save and earn less than those from more moderate traditions.”

In interviewing McAdams, the reporter discovered that McAdams’ turning point was his missionary experience.  In spite of studying four years of French, McAdams was called to Sao Paolo, Brazil.  The work was grueling and exacting, and even with some language training at a Missionary Training Center, McAdams found himself unable to communicate on even a basic level when he arrived in Brazil.  According to researcher Rodney Stark, “nothing builds more intense commitment than the act of being a missionary.”

Armaund Mauss, professor emeritus of sociology and religious studies at Washington State University who specializes in the study of Mormons, has noted a ‘seeming paradox’ in religion, in which some faiths inspire loyalty precisely because ‘people become committed to that for which they suffer or sacrifice.” And yet the suffering built more than loyalty; it helped McAdams and his peers develop skills eminently useful in modern-day business and government. As his fluency improved and he learned to overcome the rejection that followed unsuccessful attempts to convince converts, McAdams embraced the experience. And when it became clear that he was competent at his work, the Church asked him to become a ‘trainer,’ helping other missionaries develop their skills. It was a subtle process of leadership development.”

For his report, James Crabtree went to BYU to meet with Kim Smith and Jim Engebretsen, two former executives at Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers and now both professors at BYU’s Marriott School of Business. “Smith says Mormons were rare on Wall Street when he first got a job in the early 1980s. But, as he puts it, ‘banks like nothing more than finding an undervalued stock. And Mormon graduates were just that: a stock which was cheaper to buy, and which over-performed.’”  Smith talked about the support network enjoyed by Mormons who find themselves in new positions or even new cultures.  Smith himself was sent to Tokyo by Goldman Sachs, and was immediately embraced by the LDS community there.  McAdams explains that when he and his wife moved to New York for graduate school, their possessions were unloaded by 15 perfect strangers — local Mormons who knew they were coming.  Local Mormons provided other helpful connections in the business field.

Most of the church’s senior leadership positions are filled by professionally successful Mormons taking time off from their careers. One celebrated example is Kim Clarke, who quit as dean of Harvard Business School in 2005 to become head of BYU’s campus in Idaho.   Meanwhile, headhunters are on the prowl for Mormons.  Scott Nycum, a managing director at JP Morgan, confirmed that BYU is now seen as a top source of graduate talent:

“These students are bright, mature, well-educated, share our emphasis on adhering to highest standards of integrity, have impressive work ethic and are very team-oriented.  They fit extremely well with our firm’s corporate culture.”

Also for this reason, Goldman Sachs is hiring LDS graduates in increasing numbers.  The same holds true at top-tier law firms in the U.S.  The Central Intelligence Agency also grabs LDS graduates, and is especially interested in their language skills.

The Financial Times article ends with speculation as to how Mormons will fare in other countries, where the Church is newer.  It ends with the statement, “The last century saw a Mormon conquest in America.  During our lifetimes, we may see the rest of the world follow, too.