As co-founder and principal of Evergreen Investments and Management LLC, and as chairman of the board of both Passport Health Communications and Healthcare Management Directions Inc., Smith continues to rely on lesson he learned as a student at Abilene Christian University.

Purpose, Smith explains, is why a business exists, and vision defines where the business is going.  The values aspect, often forgotten in today’s business world, determines how business leaders behave along the way.

“If you’re only focused on the vision aspect and you lose sight of the values part, you’re at risk to make decisions that turn out to be unethical,” Smith says.

Many business schools have only recently realized the importance of values, and have begun offering classes in ethics.  But Smith knows ACU has done it right all along.  “ACU builds into every discipline and every class the values that Christian leaders must have,” Smith says.

And at Abilene Christian, as Smith pointed out, professors not only teach these vital lessons, they live them out as examples to their students.

“ACU helped me with the values part of my education and the purpose as well,” Smith says.