Bill Lee
President and CEO
Lee Company
Nashville, Tennessee

Lee Company is one of the top 50 mechanical contractors in America with 600 employees, annual revenues of $80 million and projects in 25 states and Mexico. On a personal note, Nashville’s Father’s Day Council also named Bill 2007 Father of the Year.

Even though Bill grew up in church and believed there was a God, he didn't understand who Christ was or why He died on the cross. In college he became intrigued with the way his roommates lived their lives, which they credited to their personal relationship with Christ. Finally, one night Bill prayed and told Christ he wanted the same kind of relationship. He remembers the night vividly because, he says, "God did a serious download into my heart."

Now, more than two decades later, Bill tries to do what his roommates did—to model to those around him what it means to have a living, breathing faith.

LifeChasers: Bill, if I were to drop into your Nashville headquarters today, would I know that your company was run by a Christian?

Lee: I'm not afraid to let people know I'm a believer, but I don't "preach" to people. I try to live it. One way we do it is to create an environment that shows there are believers in this place.

For example, we care for our employees and demonstrate it in practical ways, beyond providing the usual benefits, etc. We have a corporate chaplain that drops into our offices regularly and is available to our employees 24/7. And we have something called the LEAF Program--the Lee Employee Assistance Fund--where employees contribute to it and we match their contribution.

If an employee's house burns down or some other crisis strikes, they can submit their need to an employee committee that decides whether the situation qualifies for a financial gift to address their need. This morning a guy came in whose teenage son really needs to be in a residential treatment center for six months. Our people know that if they get in a hard spot, they have a place to go."

LifeChasers: Apart from the fact that the program models Christ's values and is a good thing to do, have you ever tried to track whether it's good for business?

Lee: We have thrived in an otherwise weak economy. When you create a company that’s a great place to work, you attract the best employees and they are loyal. They work hard for you. We do air conditioning and plumbing projects. There’s nothing very spiritual about air conditioning and plumbing. But that employee loyalty translates into excellence and good service and that’s good for business.

LifeChasers: What is one of the greatest business challenges you face?

Lee: In our industry we're always competing with other companies on price for major contracts. There are all sorts of "creative" things companies do to get a job. For instance, our vendors will offer to play games with their numbers to help us win the contract. It’s standard industry practice.

LifeChasers: So what do you do?

Lee: Some people would argue that it's not black and white because it's our vendors that are moving in the gray area, not us. But we sat in our management team meeting and asked, "Do we want to do this?" We decided our filter would be if all the details of a negotiation were displayed on the front page of the newspaper, would we feel good about it? If we wouldn't feel good, then we don't want to do it--even if it costs us the contract.

I feel really good about that. We want our business practices to validate our belief system and to be congruent with godliness. It’s a constant challenge, but our goal is to operate our business without a hint of a double standard.