KRISZTINA OLÁH 

The following is an abridged extract from the author’s doctoral dissertation, which she defended successfully in June 2022 at Bakke Graduate University, Texas:“Transition and Transformation in Hungary: What Influences Ethical Decisions of Christian Leaders in the Marketplace?”

The revolution is moral or not at all,” says the French poet Charles Péguy.¹ If no genuine moral or ethical foundations underpin the interactions— including business interactions—between individuals and communities within a society, then lasting and equitable prosperity are impossible to achieve. 

The democratic revolution that arrived in my native Hungary some three decades ago initiated a political, economic, and cultural transition in Central and Eastern Europe. At the same time, elements of the previous, non-democratic Communist culture survived, and these affect business activities along with other aspects of everyday life. The transformation of value systems remains an ongoing process in post-Communist countries, where individuals and organizations still face such shadows from the past as “autocratic leadership, black market economics, and profitable individual connections in which selfishness often overrides the needs of communities. 

Pervasive corruption

In Hungary, corruption—korrupció—is a huge issue. Everybody is aware of it, but most people prefer not to talk about it. According to Transparency International’s 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index, Hungary ranks as the most corrupt country within the European Union.² According to research conducted by Ipsos in 2020, corruption ranked third among topics of concern to Hungarians, and it had risen to second place by the fall of 2021.³ The problem of corruption is expanding, therefore, and Hungarians recognize that a solution is urgent. 

I believe morality and ethics come from God, and that Christians should represent this morality in their mission. The Gospel describes true Christians as the salt and light of the world, essential and irreplaceable [Matthew 5:13-15]. Without salt, food is tasteless; without faith, life is meaningless. Just as a lamp brings light to others, so Jesus’ command for us as Christians is to “let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” [Matthew 5:16]. 

Another Gospel teaching states, “No one can serve two masters… You cannot serve both God and money” [Matthew 6:24]. This teaching describes two ethical models, one defined by God in Scripture, and the other defined by worldly greed. We cannot follow both in our work; we must choose whether to follow Jesus’ example or the rules of the post-modern secular world. This duality in standards applies to the workplace and to leadership. Indeed, it applies to leaders even more: “If a ruler listens to falsehood, all his officials will be wicked” [Proverbs 29:12]. 

In my view an ethical business should be based upon this Christian morality, where a genuine business leader is a “ruler” who does not “listen to falsehood.” According to Jeffrey McCollum, director of organizational development at a large pharmaceutical company, “Leadership balances what’s inside of us (our desire for meaning and purpose, our values and our aspirations) with what shows up on the outside—our actions.”⁴ As one businesswoman simply puts it, “I should show that I could serve something sacred and that I could do this inside a business.”⁵

Given the context of pervasive corruption, my research set out to answer the question: How do personal Christian values affect work, leadership, and business activities of individuals and their organizations in Hungary? Transformation and transformational leadership thus became key themes of my work. As “transformational leadership” is unfamiliar in Hungary, it is not easy to define this term in Hungarian nor to translate it to the local context. In Hungarian “transformation” is átformálás, and the best fit for “transformational leadership” would be transzformáló vezetés or átformáló vezetés. 

According to Stone, Russell, and Patterson, the transformational leader makes the organization, its needs, and goals the top priority.⁶ In my understanding, transformational leadership starts with calling. Calling by God means the basic calling of Jesus: “Follow me!” This call is so simple and reliable that there is only one answer: obedience. Calling is personal, but as Christians we are members of a bigger community: the Church of God. This is the collective calling. It exceeds our personal calling and is against the individualism of modern times. Paul the Apostle describes transformation as a personal experience: “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires, to be made new in the attitude of your minds” [Ephesians 4:22-23]. “Transformational leadership” has been identified as a process whereby leaders and followers mutually uplift themselves to a higher level of motivation and morality.⁷ Here leaders connect the future aspirations of their followers with organizational visions, thus playing an inspirational role. 

Christian business leaders

The main target audiences of my research are Christian business leaders active in companies of all sizes, church leaders, and scholars. My hope is that they will be able to implement my findings in their organizations and work in the marketplace, churches, and education, so that my work supports bridge-building between these spheres. 

I gathered my research in two phases. First, I conducted individual in-person interviews with eight top-level Christian business leaders in the Hungarian marketplace. Second, I administered an online survey including qualitative and quantitative questions that was completed by 76 respondents. For the first part, I chose two criteria for my interviewees—they had to be Christian believers and active business leaders in Hungary. I drew on a common network  sampling method in order to select them: I have been closely monitoring Hungarian conferences, seminars, news articles, and public speeches where the topic was Christian faith, ethics, and business. These events are organized by Christian communities, governmental institutions, or the media. I followed the Keresztény Vállalkozói Konferencia [Christian Entrepreneurs’ Conference] and the Global Leadership Summit speaker line, where speakers and participants were Christian business people. Other events I monitored included those organized by the Jesuit Catholic order (such as their “Management by Jesus” trainings) and the 72 Tanítvány Mozgalom [72 Stewards Movement], a Catholic movement that gathers professionals in discussion groups.  

Two of my eight interviewees are members of the Roman Catholic Church. One is an elder of the Reformed Church in Hungary. One is from the Lutheran Church, one is Baptist, and the remaining three are Pentecostal or free Evangelical believers. Three of the interviewees serve as pastors in their congregations in addition to their business activities. Two interviewees are women and six are men, thus representing the gender composition of Hungarian business leaders. The average age of the interviewees was 53, and the interviewees have been in a leadership role for an average of 20 years. Four are entrepreneurs who established and lead their own companies. Two are employed as top-level leaders—a Chief Executive Officer and a Chief Financial Officer, while two had previously been employed in different leadership positions before becoming self-employed. 

Basis for business ethics

Among the key themes of the individual interviews were ethics and business ethics. One interviewee summarized the importance of ethics in the following way: “What you fill up with good gives no room for evil.” The same person described himself as “an enemy of the system”—where “the system” means the culture of corruption—who could not succeed in a non-ethical business environment. Another interviewee mentioned “high ethical and moral norms” as the basis for business ethics. For this person, these norms require transparency towards clients, business partners, and colleagues. One interviewee shared a parable: “There are two wolves in you—two animals—and they are fighting: the good wolf and the bad wolf. Which one is going to win? The one you feed.” 

Another interviewee mentioned probity [becsületesség] and the importance of one’s given word as the basis of business ethics. “I don’t think that a big effort is needed. You just need to be non-compromising.” The same interviewee shared the price of being ethical in business: “I voted for honesty. This did cost me huge pain and sacrifice, both financially and as a human being. Indeed, I decided so—and I just told myself that it is okay this way.” A related key theme was ethical leadership and transformational leadership, this being the focus of my research. Here, the interviewees positively defined these forms of leadership and shared their thoughts about the challenges faced by leaders representing these approaches. 

Concerning ethical leadership, one interviewee suggested that it “creates value or represents value,” but is not a merit (érdem) in some professional fields, where generally non-ethical acts are accepted and supported by leaders. Another interviewee maintained that, “Your decisions form the company; in fact, you are the company.” However, this person also thought that, “There is no option to stay clean as an economic authority. If you are an authority by love, where your authority is based on your personal impact and not on your money, then it [staying clean] can work.”

“Change upwards”

Concerning transformational leadership, some interviewees offered only positive definitions:

“If you need to change, change upwards: be brave aggressively. Put everything on one card and rely on God. I didn’t see people fall; I saw people rise and get stronger.” 

“I will not ignore humanity in a context where people are rude and aggressive. Indeed, each day I will add what I can and form the world.” 

“Build community and mediate value. Present and live by a vision that will make the eyes of others shine and say that it makes sense to follow those leaders. There is no excuse: pharoses [beacons], lighthouses are needed.” 

However, others identified challenges to transformational leadership: 

“If you want to act with integrity, it’s a luxury nowadays, and you have to be good enough professionally.” 

“There is no Christian mindset that has an impact on society.” 

My interviewees thus highlighted that achieving ethical and transformational leadership in a profession will not automatically result in a high ethical standard. On the contrary, it will bring about new challenges for the ethical leader. One interviewee was particularly critical of Christian leaders and their impact in Hungary, admitting frustration that those who are viewed as transformed had no impact on society, while they should have taken the responsibility to transform it. 

A further related key theme was corruption, of which my interviewees had a range of experience. Three shared that they had never been bribed, offering the following comments:

“Nobody really wanted to pay me a bribe. I was prepared for it so that I could have said no. But nobody came. And I think it’s also a wonderful thing. First, it is the protection of the Lord, probably. The second, if you act with integrity in your life, that creates an aura around you, I may say.” “Probably, I do have an attitude that prevents people from trying to bribe me.”

“I strongly assume that a Christian leader lives the right way if he or she never comes to the situation where he or she needs to refuse a bribe. Instead of that, the best case is if he or she will never be asked for that.” 

However, these interviewees did not criticize general corruption in Hungary; remarking: “I don’t think we are worse than any other nation,” “I don’t recognize corruption in my everyday life,” and “When it comes to corruption, I don’t know what the truth is.” 

Generational change needed

At the other end of the scale were interviewees who admitted that corruption does exist everywhere. One interviewee shared, “Each of us will be tempted sooner or later” and suggested that a generational change at least is needed in order to overcome the post-Communist legacy of corruption. The issue also did not seem clear-cut, with interviewees reporting that it is sometimes difficult to describe. It may be called “lobbying” or “business development” or “payment for something that does not produce value.” Such understandings of corruption lead people into grayish areas. One interviewee described corruption as “Giving up inner values in order to reach a goal, where the person assumes that staying in power has the highest priority overall.” This interviewee also shared details about people in power: For them nothing is enough; time does not exist; they do not feel fear, and they are arrogant, shameless, and greedy. 

Three interviewees highlighted corruption issues in public administration. According to one, “When someone has a dependent or vendor relationship with the state, that situation is very tough because there has always been— and probably always will be—some forms of corruption.” This interviewee spoke of the need to diminish this type of corruption. “If nothing else, the public sphere should be cleaned… This is a tragedy, the way it is now. Simply, it is a tragedy.” Another interviewee connected corruption in public administration with the character of the people in power:

Power spoils people’s and high-level leaders’ decisions so easily, whereby their personality splits. I saw so many politicians before, during, and after being in a powerful position, and they were unrecognizable during their time in power; they were like different people.

Two of these three interviewees directly mentioned the current government and Christian democrats. “Unfortunately, ‘Christian democracy’ as a slogan became the tool of tasteless political marketing, and for that I feel ashamed, because these people represent our Christian democracy in Hungary.”

What are the barriers hindering Christian leaders from overcoming corruption in the Hungarian marketplace? This was another topic of discussion for my interviewees. The first type of barrier identified was that in general, one is not allowed to speak about Christian values at work, because it is not part of the business context or work environment. Even though the eight interviewees represented different professions, they were limited in words when it came to their Christian background. Six of the eight interviewees mentioned this issue. 

To me, this finding appeared controversial. At the beginning of the interviews the interviewees maintained that they live an integrated life, in which their work and business activities are not separate from their Christian values. And yet, here at the end of the interviews, they admitted that a division does exist between being a Christian and a business professional in Hungary. However, this may also mean that an external division caused by society or the business context exists: while the interviewees themselves are able to integrate their faith and work, society is not able to accept that kind of integration. One reason for this may be separation of church and state, the sacred from the secular. 

A second type of barrier mentioned by three interviewees is a generational problem. Churches and Christian organizations are missing a generation—people in their thirties and forties—who could serve as future leaders. One interviewee also admitted that there is no focus at all on the youth in their church.

When I asked whether the interviewees listen to sermons about work, money, or business, most agreed that there are no such teachings in their churches. Even though three of the interviewees are also pastors, they do not teach about business-related topics. Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist, Evangelical, and Reformed interviewees alike reported that business-related teachings are absent. Describing this missing teaching as a “black hole,” one interviewee admitted that there is a so-called “silence where everyone knows what is right and what is not, but they do not talk about it.” The reason behind this may be that, “Nobody would admit that he or she agreed to a grayish situation.”

Questionnaire responses

For the second survey phase of my research I created a questionnaire that was answered by 76 people who work in business and are also Christian believers. Forty-seven percent are members of the Reformed Church in Hungary, 32 percent identified themselves as Roman Catholic, Baptists were six percent, Lutherans and Methodists were two percent each, and 11 percent of respondents named “Other Evangelical” as their religious affiliation. As I belong to the Reformed Church in Hungary, its members were likely overrepresented compared with national statistics. 

Twenty-three percent of the respondents work in information technology or virtual services, 15 percent in the finance and banking sector, 15 percent in commerce, and nine percent in the production industry. Four percent are employed in each of three fields: human resources services and organizational development; education and training; and health care and social services. Twenty-six percent of respondents chose the option—“Other.” 

The responses shed further light on the challenges of corruption in Hungary. One question asked, “Does your workplace or the business context where you are active sometimes expect you to act unethically?” While 58 percent of respondents answered “No,” 42 percent answered “Yes.” The latter group was then asked to describe a situation when they did not behave or decide according to their Christian values, because that was what their workplace or business environment expected them to do. Pertinent responses included: 

“I needed to share a false fact with the client.” 

“The supervisors expected the employees to reach unrealistic goals, even though the leaders knew about the difficult circumstances.” 

“When we sold a property owned by the company, I let myself be convinced that, instead of an external expert, the market value of that property was defined by an internal expert.” 

“I needed to put a vendor under pressure. I would not have done it myself.” “Tax avoidance. Whether I ask for an invoice or not.” 

A further question asked, “Do you face any type of corruption in your work or business activities?” Fifty-five percent of my respondents answered “No,” while 45 percent answered “Yes.” The latter group was then asked, “‘What form of corruption do you face?” Most of those who submitted answers referred to different forms of financial corruption, including “financial income for an advantageous decision,” “a success fee,” “bribes,” and “gray salaries; profit transit to another European affiliate where company tax is lower.” Networking-related advantages were another form of corruption, including “catering and entertainment for representatives of important partners,” “advantaging some business partners,” and “smaller and bigger gifts for partners.” One respondent used the term “Christian corruption” with reference to advantages based upon connections within the Christian community. A further example of managementrelated corruption outlined how managers report incorrect data in order to impress owners or the market. 

Another question asked, “Could you imagine that a Christian believer may use tools of corruption in work or business?” Seventy-four percent of responders answered “No,” while 26 percent answered “Yes.” Those who answered “Yes” were then asked, “Why do you think that a Christian believer may be impacted by corruption?” I structured the nine responses I received (12 percent) into four thematic groups:

1. Most said that Christian business people are impacted by corruption because of the nature of the outside world: “We live in this world. Anybody could fall.” 
2. Some listed industries in which corruption is structured into general practice, such as construction and health care: “Contractors are chosen in a certain way. The business owner is responsible for the families of the employees. So he or she needed to accept contracts the way it was common in that industry;” “There are some fields— health care for instance—where bribes or side payments (gratitude money) are given to doctors or nurses. It is good that these payments are forbidden now.”
3.  Respondents also emphasized human nature: “Christians are human too,” and they may fall “in order to keep a position or to be efficient in business.” 
4. One respondent mentioned cases in which Christians do something for the Church that is corrupt, while reasoning that it is benefiting the Church: “Christians ideologize what they do, saying it is good for the Church. I don’t understand why, but it is very common that the end justifies the means.”

When survey participants were asked what would help them to follow their Christian values in ethical dilemmas at work, prayer and Bible reading were mentioned most frequently. Next came Christian colleagues and partners, followed by mentors and coaches. The lowest-rated tools were English-language books and articles, conferences in Hungary, and higher education programs and courses. 

At the start of this research project, my naive question was essentially: “Why do the Christian values held by individuals not lead to transformation of the whole of society?” I now hope that this idealistic original sense has been transformed and sounds as follows: How could Christian values of individuals lead to transformation of whole societies?

 I believe that the Christian faith is the hope of the world and can provide some answers to corruption, but there are barriers to fully fledged Christian influence upon people and structures in the Hungarian marketplace. My project originally sought the reasons for these barriers and aimed to suggest tools and trainings in order to overcome them. After reviewing the results of each interview and survey questionnaire, I would change that original goal to searching for tools that help to face or challenge corruption and other ethical issues relevant to the Hungarian context. 

The results of both my primary research (interviews and questionnaire) and those of my secondary research (review of relevant literature) underlined that there is no “magic bullet” solution against corruption, and it cannot be fully eliminated. The world is a fallen and sinful one where people can only try to face and challenge corruption. Biblical teaching, the guidance of God, and the global or local church provide an ethical compass but they do not guarantee success. As members of the Kingdom of God, Christians must follow that moral compass; their task is to aim for the good, the right, and the ethical. My original problem-solving mindset has thus changed towards an observation-gathering way of thinking: looking for insights that initiate or strengthen processes of moral transformation.

Notes:

¹ Cited by Michael Novak in his foreword to Mark R. Elliott and Scott Lingenfelter (eds), Ethics in the Russian Marketplace: An Anthology, Wheaton College: Institute for East-West Christian Studies, 1992.
² https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2022.
³ https://nepszava.hu/3077382_ipsos-a-magyarok-aggodnak-a-legjobban-az-egeszsegugy-allapota-miatt; https://nepszava.hu/3136245_ipsos-mar-jobban-felunk-a-szegenysegtol-es-a-korrupciotol-mint-a-koronavirustol.
⁴ Larry C. Spears (ed.), Insights on Leadership: Service, Stewardship, Spirit, and Servant-Leadership, Wiley, 1998, Kindle edition: Chapter 29, Paragraph 10.
⁵ Cited in Danah Zohar and Ian Marshall, Spiritual Intelligence: The Ultimate Intelligence, London and New York: Bloomsbury, 2000, p. 116.
⁶ A. Gregory Stone, Robert F. Russell, and Kathleen Patterson, “Transformational versus servant leadership: A difference in leader focus,” The Leadership and Organizational Development Journal, vol. 25, no. 4, 347-61.
⁷ James MacGregor Burns, Leadership, New York: Harper and Row, 1978.

Krisztina Oláh was awarded master's degrees in economics and business communication before earning her Doctor of Transformational Leadership degree in 2022. She works for Bakke Graduate University (www.bgu.edu) as well as the Osijek Doctoral Colloquium (https://ceeams.org/doctoral-colloquium/). Her more recent professional work focuses on digital communication. She lives in Budapest, Hungary.

In March 2022 Krisztina Oláh spent two weeks helping to receive the thousands of war refugees then arriving at the railway station in Záhony, a small town on the short border between her native Hungary and Ukraine. There, she set up a corner for mothers and children:

I tried to provide them a clean and quiet place where they could change diapers, receive hygiene products, nurse their babies, get some baby food, let their kids play, draw, or nap in the middle of the chaos. As a result, both the adults and the children could forget about where they are and why they came here. When people ask me why I created that babies’ corner, I don’t have the right answer. Calling? Instinct? I don’t know. But I was sure that this is what I needed to do when I first smelled baby powder and diaper cream in that corner.

Her hometown and parents being nearby, Krisztina has since visited Záhony regularly. Among her fellow volunteers are Edina, a Ukrainian whose bilingual Hungarian allowed her to act as an interpreter to other refugees, and Anmol, a student from India who was close to graduation in medical surgery at a Ukrainian university when Russia invaded on 24 February 2022.

Today, reports Krisztina,

Both of them are still serving the refugees on the border. More than one and a half years have passed since the beginning of the war in February 2022, but there is no border restricting the love of the helpers who stand on this front line. Both Edina and Anmol serve whomever is in need: people they can talk to in their mother tongue; people who need information about train schedules, refugee status, accommodation, or employment. They both do this with more humility and kindness than I can describe. Anmol always has a smile on his face. Every word Edina says touches the heart. The war is still their story, their reality.

If this horror had not started, Anmol would have lived in the city of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine. He would have finished the very last semester of his medical studies, had a joyful graduation ceremony with friends and relatives and then started his professional career as a resident surgeon in either Ukraine or his homeland, India.

If the war had not started last February, Edina would have stayed in her family home in western Ukraine. She would have worked as a hairdresser, while her daughter would have continued second grade and then started third grade at the elementary school where she studied previously. Edina’s son would have continued studying at the high school where he had planned to apply. The family would not have been separated from grandparents, they would not have left behind their home, garden, pets, good neighbors, and the kids’ future plans.

If I search for one word that describes the current situation, I would choose separated. These people and their families have been separated for so long. They are separated from the places where they belong, from the people they love, from their dreams, plans, work, studies… They are totally separated from their regular, “before-the-war” life, from safety, their freedom to choose, their past, and their future.