DATE: Saturday, March 8, 1997               TAG: 9703080198

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D01  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY NIA NGINA MEEKS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   69 lines

CHRISTIANITY STEERS TORO LEADER

Ken Melrose runs his business on the principle of service. The principle helped him lead a bankrupt-bound corporation back to financial health.

For that, and other successes through the years, Regent University honored the Toro Co.'s chairman/CEO with its second annual ``Servant Leader Award'' on Friday.

Melrose said his evolution of a more Christian-based management style began in the '70s. In fact, it began in a Bible study class.

The instructor challenged the class, asking them how much they remembered about their grandfathers, great-grandfathers and great-great-grandfathers. Hands fell with each generation mentioned.

``Then he asked us, `How many of you think your grandchildren will remember you? What about your great-grandchildren? Your great-great-grandchildren? If your family doesn't remember you, neither will anyone else,' '' Melrose recalled.

That thought stuck with him, making the ambitious young businessman look inward.

``It's not who we are, being the executive marketing person, the CEO,'' Melrose said. ``It's what we do. That got me in the concept of serving people.''

He began trying out that concept during his early rise at Toro. Then came the '80s.

The Minneapolis-based company - maker of lawn and turf care products - was in shambles. The president got the boot. The chairman fled. Melrose was tapped to lead as the new president.

``I was lucky that we had this crisis in '81,'' he said. ``When you have a crisis, it's a mandate for change. Everyone is on the same agenda: survival.''

Because of that, his new philosophy was a little easier to swallow, even in the midst of the ``Me'' decade.

And as sure as the Dow jumps up and down, Melrose sees changes in the way corporations are run.

Business-trend trackers such as Wally Stabbert agree, saying top-down teamwork is becoming the norm, albeit slowly. Stabbert runs the Institute of Certified Business Consultants, a 160-member national organization based in Oregon.

``There is more concern today for the average employee,'' Stabbert said. ``In most cases, the most successful companies have good relationships with their crew.''

The shift is not as evident in larger publicly owned companies because the model for success in the business world still revolves around tight-fisted power, Melrose said.

``Most leaders in corporate America succeeded because of their egos, not in spite of them,'' he said. ``I realized if the leader allows them to do what they do best, these people will thrive. We call it unleashing the potential of our people. That's from God.''

Some call it total quality management; others preach team-based management. However it's phrased, Melrose said, the philosophy has to be grounded in a core belief. For him, that's Christianity.

Melrose outlined his thoughts on management in his 1995 book, ``Making the Grass Greener on Your Side.''

Award recipients such as Melrose only help to reinforce the teachings of Regent University, business school dean John E. Mulford said.

``When we started the school in 1982, we said, `This is what the Bible says; it should work.' But we didn't know that it would because we didn't have examples,'' Mulford said.

``It's nice to see someone come in and teach and say the exact same things. It's very encouraging to the students.'' ILLUSTRATION: [color photo]

Ken Melrose

CEO, The Toro Company

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