The word Disciple, for most people, either conjures a mental picture of the biblical twelve or of some quasi-cult-sci-fi-horror devotee of an incredibly evil/demonic villain. (Now THAT is an interesting contrast to explore in and of itself, but I digress.) The concept of discipleship is ancient and carriers many nuances depending on which particular tradition you examine.
The Greek philosophical schools used a type of discipleship model. Students typically paid masters to learn from them in a much more “dialogue through life” educational approach than our schools use today. Eventually the students became proponents of what they had learned from their masters. Socrates to Plato to Aristotle being perhaps the most well known of these linkages.
Eastern religions such a Hinduism and Buddhism contain within their practice the concept of disciples: those who submit themselves to the teachings of the master in order to climb the path towards enlightenment.
The biblical notion of discipleship grows out of an origin in rabbinical tradition where a student followed a rabbi, typically paid for the opportunity and devoted themselves to the teaching of the rabbi’s interpretation of the Torah with the intent of eventually becoming rabbis themselves.
In general them the common thread seems to be that disciples engage in four activities:
- They commit themselves by choice
- They pay for the opportunity
- They devote themselves to deeper understanding
- They seek to promote the teaching of the master.
In a marketing context the term we typically find used is “net promoter”, those people who, on a scale of 0-10, say that they are “highly likely” to recommend a good, or service, or business to a friend. There exist some pretty solid arguments for why this is such a valuable piece of information to track and such a valuable score for a business to increase.
I want to suggest that a Disciple goes beyond simply recommending IF they are given the opportunity. The third activity of the disciple holds the key.
They devote themselves to deeper understanding. This means they want more than the menu items. They want to know the back story. They find value in the business ethics and decision making paradigms of a company to whom they give their allegiance. They don’t just want to know and use “what” you do, they want to know “why” and “how” you do it.
Of course, you can’t just give lip service to the “why and how” you have to actually live it. Just like the rabbis and Greek philosophers and Buddhist monks have to.
When I was in full time vocational ministry I used to joke that there seemed to be a fine line between ministry and marketing when it came to church growth. This model of Discipleship lends itself to a different approach to spiritual discipleship than we see in most churches today but it also has some seriously strong ju-ju in the marketing world. Whether you run a corner store, a home based business, the local soccer club or a fortune 500 company you’ve got people out there who want to promote you if you’re giving them the goods.
Do you give potential Disciples access to the “why and how” of what you do?
Do they get to see your “corporate values” exhibited in your dealings with them?
More importantly do you live by them when the customer isn’t looking?