From Owner to Steward: Leading Your Business with Purpose

Sarabeth Stone
Oct 22
4 min read

By Sarabeth Stone

“I felt like everything was at stake. Our people, their careers, their livelihoods, our customers, the plants we were responsible for, my own reputation. As a result, my response was to try to control everything.”

When Ben Fields assumed ownership of Operators Unlimited in 2015, he faced a unique level of fear and pressure. His predecessor and mentor, Ray Patton, had built the company, which treats wastewater for manufacturers across the Southeast, from the ground up with a charisma and magnetism that drew customers and employees alike. Ben knew he wasn’t Ray, and he wasn’t sure if he could fill the shoes of the legendary founder after his passing. Ben soon found himself carrying an immense burden—convinced that everything depended on him.

In his recent address to the South Carolina Christian Consortium, Mr. Fields shared the one truth that relieved the weight he was carrying: “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it (Psalm 24:1).” This truth reminded Ben that he didn’t have to live under the pressure that comes with trying to hold it all together as a business owner. Because he wasn’t the true owner of anything, Ben could step back and simply steward what God had given him.

Trusting God is not a Formula

In the early days of ownership Ben’s mind raced with concerns. Would customers remain loyal without Ray at the helm? Could he manage the delicate family dynamics already embedded in the business? With a nephew, grandson, and son of the previous owner working in the company, the potential for conflict seemed inevitable. Then, the first month under his leadership delivered a big lesson, as revenue hit its lowest point in years.

“In those moments, where profitability is struggling, or things look uncertain for the business’s future, you can end up questioning God,” shared Fields. “You start to wonder if everything is going to turn out ok if you just trust Him. You eventually learn that it isn’t formulaic—in life or business. You can go to God and ask for help and wins, but that doesn’t mean He is going to come through the way you want Him to. What I love about that is it just takes us back to dependence on Him.”

Business owners can lead well, manage wisely, and build something incredible but still miss the joy of watching God move if they try to control everything.

“What if the peace you have been looking for doesn’t come from working harder but from letting go?” asked Fields. “Business leaders can keep carrying the full weight of their organization or we can put it back into the hands of the One Who owns the whole thing. For me, doing that changed everything.”

Stewardship in Practice

The fruit of Fields's shift from an ownership to stewardship mindset carries relevance for business leaders across South Carolina. Stewardship is not passivity. It requires work, sacrifice, and taking responsibility for setbacks while crediting others for successes. It produces companies that do more than just employ people or produce goods and services that address marketplace needs. When business leaders act as stewards, it bleeds into surrounding communities as an organization and its people pursue Someone and something greater than the company’s bottom line.

At Operators Unlimited, stewardship manifests in concrete ways. The company maintains a caring team dedicated to responding when employees face crisis. A chapel remains available twenty-four hours a day to employees and their families. Teams have distributed Bibles, prayer cards, and devotionals throughout the organization.

Perhaps most tellingly, when the company discovered that an employee struggled with alcoholism that was affecting his work performance, stewardship meant intervention and support. Team members stepped in to cover the employee’s responsibilities while leadership leaned in to get him help. Today, that employee is a follower of Christ and thriving in life and work.

Making Time for Corporate Prayer

A few months before his presentation, Fields's leadership team gathered for a routine corporate review meeting. A vice president suggested starting the meeting with an extended time of prayer.

“We prayed for each other, for the business, for team members” continued Fields. “As we were going around praying, I had this prick in my spirit saying, ‘What is stopping you from doing this every week?’ My first reaction was to dismiss the prompting, but the thought wouldn’t leave me. When we wrapped up the time of prayer, I looked at my team and first thanked our VP for having the guts to make the suggestion. Then I said, ‘Guys, I can’t think of a better use of our time than to go to God together every week.’ Since then, that’s what we’ve done.”

Fields recognized that time spent seeking God's guidance was not inefficiency—it was the highest use of his team's time and his own.

Lessons for South Carolina’s Business Leaders

Perhaps the most important insight from Fields's experience is that a shift from owner to steward is not a one-time realization but a daily practice. Nearly a decade into ownership, he continues to wrestle with the tendency to control. Challenging times pull him back toward the illusion that he must have all the answers and carry all the weight. Each time, the same truth reasserts itself: God is faithful, trustworthy, and dependable.

As you lead your organization in South Carolina, you too face the daily choice. Will you continue carrying the full weight, convincing yourself that everything depends on you? Or will you step into stewardship, acknowledging both the seriousness of your responsibility and the reality that your business rests in hands far more capable than your own?

The peace you have been seeking may be waiting on the other side of that choice.

Sarabeth Stone is a wife, mother, and freelance writer residing in the Upstate. Her background centers around public affairs and communications work with Fortune 500 companies, nonprofit entities, and small and mid-sized organizations from a variety of industries.

Located in the Upstate, The South Carolina Christian Consortium connects South Carolina’s small business community with likeminded leaders. We host monthly luncheons where experts from a variety of industries come to encourage, equip, and educate you as a business leader. Come rub elbows with state and local elected officials, business owners, University leaders, and more at our events.