He unabashedly touts his Christian bona fides in generating leads
In a sign of the times, the tactics of morality and ethics aren’t virtues one immediately associates with business. Yet for one Arizona-based loan originator, such dynamics are rooted in his faith and the personal values taught in his formative years.
Asked where he developed his sense of doing the right thing as part of his Stewardship Financial business, Grant Botma (pictured) is unabashedly religious: “The Bible,” he said. “I’m a Christian and I grew up in a Christian home and went to a Christian Bible college, and as I examined the Bible and tried to determine what life is about, I turned to the life of Jesus.”
What’s the greatest business book on the market? Is it Think and Grow Rich? Rich Dad, Poor Dad? How to Win Friends and Influence People? Ask Botma, and the answer is decidedly different: “I think the greatest book on running a business and the greatest book on how to be a really great, compassionate capitalist is the Bible,” he said, “There’s unbelievable examples of genuinely putting other people’s needs first and if you do that well, you’ll do well.”
To that end, he finds one Scripture particularly resonant in Mark 10:45: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
It’s work as worship
The idea of reaping dividends even while practicing Christian principles may seem antithetical to corporate success, but Botma insists his innately generated strategy has borne fruit.
“It’s more than growing up in a Christian home and Scripture,” he said. “I got to see it lived out; I saw God’s word come to life by watching these other people go for short-term success, which is to try to make as much money off an individual as possible. They might make a lot of money one month because they got a great commission, but they would stress out month after month after month afterwards trying to find another commission – trying to find another person they could, for all intents and purposes, take advantage of.”
His is a different approach: “I never had that problem,” he said of the never-ending chase for a monthly commission. “I genuinely cared for folks and maybe didn’t make as much money on each transaction, but I never had to work hard or worry about where business was going to come from. Because when I served people well through a financial transaction, they were happy to share that experience with others, and as a result my email inbox and inbound phone line had more activity than my co-workers.”
Praise on LinkedIn from those he’s worked with buttress his claims of return business. Justin Farrell wrote: “Grant is honest, trustworthy, hard-working and passionate. He can rally a team, drive a project or new endeavor and love people along the way.” Added Scott V: “I can’t possibly say enough good things about Grant that would do him justice. Words can’t describe the immense amount of respect I have for him and his business.”
Hustling for Jesus and his clients
The thoughtful approach to business doesn’t slow down his hustle. In addition to running a brokerage, Botma operates an insurance agency and investment firm. He also owns a software company, hosts two podcasts and releases two videos and a blog every week.
Along the way, he found time to write a well-received book on worker retention titled “The Problem Isn’t Their Paycheck: How to Attract Top Talent and Build a Thriving Company Culture.” Like the seemingly irreconcilable concepts of spirituality and business, it outlines a different approach to business that extols the idea of focusing not just solely on financial compensation but intangible rewards derived from work.
Indeed, it’s not just the environs of a church where Botma learned his ethics, but on a dairy farm in Buckeye, Ariz., during his formative years that taught him about “having a hard work ethic and not being scared to do hard things every day,” he said.
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