After decades leading major Australian organisations, George Savvides has seen the impact good leadership can have not just in churches and charities, but in boardrooms, hospitals, and schools. What drives him is a belief that faith should never be confined to Sunday.
“We’re all called to be image-bearers,” George says. “ It’s how we show up that makes the difference. If we show up expressing the Sermon on the Mount in deed, not just in word, in a work environment on a Monday, it will make a difference.”
This conviction has fuelled George’s long-standing involvement with Arrow Leadership, beginning in 1995 when he was first invited to speak about faith and work at one of Arrow’s residentials. What began as a guest speaking role eventually grew into a board position, and later, chairing the board. But the most enduring outcome of his involvement may well be the creation of Arrow’s Executive Leaders Program.
“I started to talk to the team at Arrow about whether there was space for an executive program,” George explains. “When somebody is already moving into a career pathway and they’re responsible for other people, how does the Arrow Emerging Leaders course relate to that experience?”
At the time, Arrow’s core focus was on developing young and emerging leaders. But George saw a gap: what about the people who were already established in leadership roles—managing people, carrying weighty decisions, influencing culture,yet wrestling with how to integrate their Christian convictions into their daily work?
Working closely with the Arrow team, George helped design a program specifically for that cohort.
“It wasn’t hard, I think we were pushing on an open door,” George reflects. “The hunger, the need for a safe place for people to come together, talk about their executive roles, sharing the challenges they are working through as they endeavour to connect their faith with their work”
The Executive Leaders Program has since become a core part of Arrow’s offering, providing a unique space where leadership is shaped not just by best practice, but by Scripture, spiritual reflection, and peer learning.
George has seen firsthand the difference it can make, particularly in helping leaders reframe their work not just as a job, but as part of their God-given calling.
“So often people in church faith communities are not validated for their work vocation, their “Monday” world. The church setting tends to validate members for their Sunday contributions. The Arrow Executive Program focuses on connecting Sunday with Monday, connecting faith and work, shaping transformative leaders who make the world of work a place where people and teams thrive,” he explains.
Through the program, George has mentored participants navigating senior roles in high-pressure industries, ranging from banking to education to not-for-profit work. His encouragement to them is grounded in both Scripture and experience: speak up with humility, lead with courage, and let your faith shape your leadership, not just your private life.
Looking ahead, George believes Arrow’s mission is only becoming more relevant: “Our increasingly changing world is pushing spirituality to the side. And it’s very transactional. It’s very digital. So the need to really stay with ‘what is leadership’, that’s more and more important.”
What makes Arrow’s approach unique, he says, is that, “Jesus is not a past tense.” That is, he’s not just theory. Arrow’s approach emphasises the presence of Christ shaping lives and leadership in real time.
“We haven’t gone off and become academic or theoretical,” George says. “There’s time for meditation and reflection. There’s Scripture and devotion.”
Now, with more than a thousand participants having completed Arrow programs, George is excited for what’s next. His personal vision for Arrow remains clear: to raise up leaders, whether on factory floors, in hospitals, in boardrooms, or in churches, who will lead with conviction, humility and courage in a rapidly changing world.
“If you’re not connecting your why with what you do, then what you do won’t be as powerful,” George says. “Come to Arrow, and let’s connect your why with what you do.”
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