This week on the Champion Chats podcast, Jordan Blabey and I sat down with Senior Vice President of Ethics, Compliance and Public Safety and retired Air Force 1-star general Jeff Hurlbert.
At the beginning of our conversation, Hurlbert shared his wisdom about servant leadership.
“I think it’s really important to understand the nature of leadership and how authoritative leadership can actually be counterproductive,” Hurlbert said. “Servant leadership is the approach that can really get you to the finish line.”
Hurlbert said Esther 4:14 helped him keep God at the center of his work at Liberty.
“God had it figured out and he prepared me for a time such as this,” Hurlbert said.
Before working in leadership at Liberty University, Hurlbert served with the Air Force’s Office of Special Investigations after completing the ROTC program at the University of Notre Dame.
“I spent most of my career tracking terrorists, catching criminals and stopping spies from doing bad things all around the world,” Hurlbert said.
Hurlbert later worked as the deputy inspector general of the Air Force, where he helped ensure the organization operated with integrity.
Hurlbert’s last active-duty military position was as the chancellor of the National War College in Washington, D.C. He said this background in higher education helped him prepare for a place like Liberty.
Hurlbert said Micah 6:8 is a verse that has helped define his career.
“Seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly … we know that’s what God’s call is,” Hurlbert said. “God is both just and merciful.”
Along with Micah 6:8, Hurlbert said Isaiah 6:8 helped shape him into the leader he is today.
“So hopefully every time that God calls, I’m there to raise my hand and say, ‘Here am I, send me,’” Hurlbert said.
Hurlbert said the story of how he came to work at Liberty explains the Lord’s calling on his life.
“I didn’t know the job existed,” Hurlbert said. “I had never been on this campus or been to Lynchburg before I flew here for a job interview.”
While working and traveling in corporate America for two years as a chief security officer in Texas, Hurlbert realized that God’s calling for this chapter of his life was much different than he expected.
“My answer, when asked about the Liberty job … was that we just want to go where God has us,” Hurlbert said.
Hurlbert found out about the job at Liberty through a phone call with a former military friend. Six weeks after that phone call, he started his job at Liberty.
Hurlbert concluded the conversation with his definition of a Champion for Christ.
Senes is a news editor for The Liberty Champion.