DR. CUMMINGS: I've learned two things

Over the past 84 years, I've learned two things:

1. Not all religious people are spiritual.

2. Not all managerial people are leaders.

I spent the first 40 years of my life in a strict religious environment. Religion was all around me. Every book I read, every sermon I heard, every conversation I engaged in was about the Catholic religion. Everybody who trained me and taught me and formed my thinking was either a monk, nun, priest, bishop, cardinal or pope. But not all of them were spiritual. Some were, like Pope John XXIII, who taught me many lessons in spirituality during the two years I lived in the Vatican; some were not. It was easy to tell the difference.

I spent the second 40 years of my life as the manager of both small and large industrial companies in New York, California and Georgia, and then I formed my own consulting firm to teach and coach other managers and executives around the country. However, not all of them were leaders. Some were, like Michael Tompkins, the former CEO of TriBridge Residential in Atlanta, who showed me outstanding leadership skills for the seven years I was his consultant; some were not. Again, it was easy to tell the difference

What was that difference?

RELIGIOUS PEOPLE

Organized religions are nonprofit companies, which means they don't pay taxes. However, they organize themselves around pinnacles of power exactly like their for-profit neighbors. Pastors of churches are simply managers, and when they bring in money and members, they are considered "religious people" because — like good managers — they are furthering the cause of that religion. However, spirituality has nothing to do with religion. In fact, if the pastor happens to be spiritual, but not religious, (that is, not a good manager) he or she gets fired.

What does it mean to be "spiritual?" My definition (just my opinion, of course) is a person who truly loves other people. That means, among other things: willing to listen, willing to understand, willing to question and willing to engage in dialogue — not argument and dissent and degrading accusations.

"Spiritual but not religious" (SBNR) is now a popular phrase used to identify the lifestyle of spiritual people who sometimes reject all organized religions. This is the reason we can see church/synagogue attendance falling rapidly, but the vast majority of Americans were still appalled when they thought Planned Parenthood was harvesting baby parts for sale. Religions do not have a monopoly on morality.

Seventy two percent of Generation Y agree they are "more spiritual than religious." What does this really mean? It means this younger generation wants a God of love and peace and forgiveness, and not a God of power and fear and punishment, and they're willing to seek this God in their own like-minded communities instead of in the confines of some of our organized religions.

MANAGERIAL PEOPLE

Managers manage things; leaders serve people. Leadership is the "authentic self-expression that brings value." Just because you have a powerful title and a fancy office and a large salary, doesn't automatically make you a leader. Executives who try to manage people instead of serving them always fail. Warren Bennis wrote the classic book on this topic called: "Managing People is like Herding Cats."

I have worked with some of the most powerful managers in New York, California and Georgia. I have seen them bring in millions of dollars, raise the price of their stock and be recognized by the press as the leading CEO's and executives in their cities, but be hated by their people, who either drag the company down or quit the first chance they get. Mangers who are not leaders are like pastors who are not spiritual. Both are phony.

When you find a "spiritual leader," either in business or in the church or in your own circle of friends, you have found someone worth following. Middle Georgia is fortunate to have several of these people, and I have been fortunate to call many of them my friends. One of the greatest of these was Lee Robinson, our former Macon mayor and state senator and leading circuit public defender who lost his fight with cancer this past week. He lost the battle, but I can assure you, he won the war.

Dr. Bill Cummings is the CEO of Cummings Consolidated Corporation and Cummings Management Consultants. His website is www.billcummings.org.

This story was originally published November 7, 2015 at 2:43 PM with the headline "DR. CUMMINGS: I've learned two things ."