Love First, Lead Always: How Mike Shutty Built a People-First Business on Faith

What if the most powerful business strategy you could deploy had nothing to do with your product, your pricing, or your market position — and everything to do with how deeply you love the people around you?

That's not a soft question. For Mike Shutty, Head of Strategic Partnerships at Enova International, it's the operating principle that has defined every company he's built, every team he's led, and every difficult decision he's had to make along the way.

And it starts, as most things do in his world, with faith.

Formed From the Beginning

Mike grew up steeped in Catholic tradition — grammar school, high school, a serious contemplation of the priesthood. Like many, college brought its drift. But marriage brought him back, and the arrival of children crystallized something he hadn't yet fully named.

"I realized that as a Christian, I was being placed in a very privileged and honored spot to serve the world with the talent I've been given — and the opportunity to leave it in a better place than when I arrived."

That conviction didn't stay in a pew on Sunday morning. It followed him into every boardroom, every hiring decision, every hard conversation he would eventually have to lead. Faith wasn't a compartment for Mike — it was the ground beneath his feet.

Servant Leadership Isn't the Easy Path — It's the Right One

Early in his corporate career, Mike watched organizations default to what he calls authoritative leadership — tell people what to do and move fast. It worked, in a narrow sense. But something was missing.

When he launched his first company, he chose a different way. His founding principle was simple but demanding: take care of your people, and they will take care of your clients. Take care of your clients, and the business will take care of itself.

"If we're successful in motivating employees to do their best work, that will serve our clients at a whole new level — and then the money will take care of itself after that."

He's the first to admit this approach costs more — in time, in emotional investment, in the willingness to truly listen. Leaders who serve their teams don't just manage tasks; they engage with the whole person who shows up each morning carrying a personal life, a faith life, and a professional life all at once.

The return on that investment? His companies maintained the lowest employee turnover in their industry. Not because of perks or pay packages alone, but because people felt genuinely seen and heard. In a noisy corporate landscape, that is a rare and powerful thing.

Love Means Telling the Truth

Here's where Mike's framework gets tested — and where many well-intentioned leaders quietly fail.

What do you do when someone you genuinely love, someone you've invested in and rooted for, simply isn't the right fit? Mike's answer is hard-won and honest: you let them go. And you do it sooner than feels comfortable.

"The biggest mistake I've ever made, singularly, is hanging on to people who don't fit in the organization way too long. Too benevolent can be a bad thing."

Prolonged misfit isn't kindness — it's a slow drain on everyone around them. The team sees it. The individual feels it, even if they can't articulate it. Mike learned that genuine love sometimes looks like a hard conversation, a gracious exit, and a stack of well-written recommendation letters.

"They do have talent. They do have value," he says. "Someone will be able to leverage that fully and create fulfillment they never would have found here." Helping someone find the right seat — even if it's not on your bus — is an act of care, not failure.

When You Can't Wear the Cross Outwardly, Let It Shine Inwardly

As a consultant, Mike regularly walks into environments where overt expressions of faith aren't welcome or appropriate. No crosses around the neck. No opening with prayer. So how does a man whose entire leadership philosophy flows from his relationship with God navigate spaces where that source must stay largely unspoken?

He calls it living by example — and he is remarkably intentional about it.

"I'm trying to provoke or compel the invitation to take a conversation to another level. I never force it on anybody."

A crucifix quietly visible in the background of a video call. A closing line — "God bless you and your family" — offered sincerely at the right moment. What he calls a "God mention": small, genuine, never weaponized. The goal isn't to make someone uncomfortable. It's to create a safe opening — so that those who want to talk about faith know the door is unlocked.

"That's when I let the Holy Spirit do all the work," he says. "I'm just creating the moment."

It's a practice rooted in Matthew 5 — let your light shine before others, not so they see your religious credentials, but so they're drawn to ask about the source. Mike has seen it work, time and again, with clients and colleagues who were quietly hungry for exactly that kind of conversation.

Don't Put Faith in a Box — Stand on It

When asked to offer a word of encouragement to fellow business leaders, Mike doesn't reach for a motivational slogan. He names a danger he's watched derail good people: compartmentalization.

Men, he says with a knowing laugh, are particularly guilty of this. When the deadline is closing in and the RFP demands full attention, it's tempting to set faith aside like a tool you'll pick up again later. "I know it's there. I'll come back to it."

"Don't separate faith and put it in a box. Make it such that you're standing on that box — so it's beaming through you as you go through the pressure."

Faith isn't a resource you consult in a crisis. It's the foundation you build on every single day — which is exactly why Mike treats daily prayer as non-negotiable. Twice a day, three times a day, whatever your rhythm requires. Not as a religious obligation, but as a lifeline that keeps you tethered to what's true when everything else is demanding your attention.

"That murmuring to yourself, even a small prayer during the day — it keeps you connected. It keeps that faith life alive and present at all times, not just when you want to access it."

The Work That Lasts

Mike Shutty is under no illusion that quarterly reports and partnership deals are the stuff of eternity. But he holds onto something that reframes what we do from nine to five in a deeply meaningful way.

"The way we work with each other and treat each other — that is eternal." The revenue will come and go. Markets will rise and fall. But the person sitting across from you in a performance review, the employee you helped land on their feet after a difficult exit, the colleague who finally felt safe enough to share their faith because you created that space — that work endures.

That's the legacy Mike Shutty is building, one conversation, one decision, and one honest act of love at a time.

So this week, before you open your inbox or jump into your first meeting, consider the people on your team. Are you truly listening? Are you standing on your faith or storing it away for later? And is there a moment today where your light might quietly invite someone to ask what makes you different?

The opportunity is already there. You just have to show up fully — all of you.