Lytle begins "Entrust" initiative on campus

Dr. Rick Lytle, dean of the College of Business Administration, is launching a new program called Entrust, which intends to “entrust” the next generation. Entrust will engage the next generation of business leaders for Christ by using a team of Christian CEO’s to mentor young, “30-something” business professionals.

“Our goal with this initiative is to guide young business professionals in their own efforts of equipping a spiritual workplace,” Lytle said.

The selection process consists of highly selective and prestigious professionals by Lytle’s partner CEO Forum. CEO Forum is a program that shares Lytle’s vision to learn, exchange ideas, solve problems and share personal perspectives of learning in community with others.

Over a span of two years, these young business professionals commit to four group sessions, select assignments between group meetings and engage with their mentor monthly. This commitment intends to give opportunities to the next generation of Christian business leaders to preserve a spiritual workplace.

Dr. Tim Johnston, assistant dean of the College of Business Administration, said Lytle has seen a need for ethics and the next generation of leaders.

“We think, as Christians, that we now have an opportunity to bring spiritual wisdom to the next generation of young business professionals,” Johnston said, “and I believe Dr. Lytle’s Entrust initiative is a great idea for them.”

Lytle is still working out the problems before introducing Entrust, but his developing brochure for Entrust states, “our target audience is a highly selected group of young professionals who profess Jesus Christ as Lord. These individuals seek a deeper and abiding relationship with Jesus Christ to equip themselves as spiritual leaders in the marketplace.”

To make his initiative a living and breathing program for business professionals globally, Lytle partnered with the CEO Forum.

Lytle took a seven-month sabbatical last year, and during his time off, he interviewed 57 Christian Chief Executive Officers (CEO) to be a part of his “Entrust” initiative.

Lytle thinks out of the 57 Christian CEO’s he interviewed during his sabbatical term, about 20 to 25 will seriously commit to Entrust and its goal for the next generation of business leaders.

“Most of these successful Christian CEO’s, if they’ve got an eternal bent to them are saying, ‘I want to give back. Am I really just in this to get a new boat?'” Lytle said. “If I’m really sold out for the Lord then I will follow God’s calling of entrusting it to you, so that you would entrust it to the next generation.”