For Harvey Najim, life is about ‘servant leadership’

When Harvey Najim struck out on his own in the business world in 1980, his office consisted of a windowless 10-by-10-foot room off Broadway that was outfitted with a card table and a folding chair.

It was an inauspicious beginning for a man who would come to oversee a billion-dollar industry behemoth — Sirius Computer Solutions — and shine as a paragon of charitable giving, a man whose philanthropy in Bexar County and surrounding counties has redefined what it means to be a “servant leader.”

Najim, a straight-talking man who sometimes clutches a jumbo, unlit cigar, said his transformation into a major giver began in 2006 when he negotiated a major business deal that resulted in a windfall of profits.

Two years before that event, he’d undergone a spiritual epiphany after a rough patch in his personal life, an experience that left him asking: What did he want the second half of his life to mean? Around the same time, he’d read two books — “Halftime” by Bob Buford and “The Servant” by James C. Hunter — that crystallized for him the essence of true leadership.

So when those profits landed in Najim’s lap, he knew he had to act.

“That money didn’t belong to me,” he said, sitting in his spacious office in the Spectrum Building on Loop 410 adorned with the plaques, awards and mementos that attend a life of giving. “It belonged to God.”

Almost a decade ago, Najim founded the Harvey E. Najim Family Foundation. Since then, he personally and through his foundation has given almost $61 million to 177 charities, most of them focused on children — because “children are our future,” he said.

Najim hasn’t slowed down on the business side, either. Today, he presides as executive chairman of a $1.6 billion company with about 1,500 employees working in 38 offices that cover every state.

Najim rose to become a self-made CEO after working for IBM Corp. for 13 years. He founded Star Data Systems in 1980, which distributed IBM computers.

Born in Springfield, Illinois, Najim, who turned 75 on July 16, said he learned his work ethic from his father, co-owner of the Lincoln Candy Co., who brought home invoices at night for his son to work on. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in math from the University of Wichita in 1964 and served in the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps and as an active-duty second lieutenant.

It was when Najim was stationed at Fort Sam Houston’s Brooke Army Medical Center as a data processing officer that he discovered an aptitude for computers. He went to work for IBM after leaving the Army.

While working for that company, Najim did stints in San Antonio, running a basic systems center and working as a systems engineering manager, as well as stints in Dallas and Kansas City.

In 1993, Najim changed the name of Star Data Systems to Sirius — the brightest star in the night sky. The firm that had its roots in a bare room is now a nationally recognized technology provider. In 2011, Najim stepped down as CEO and passed that role to Joe Mertens.

When it comes to talking about his life, it’s the charitable giving he wants to focus on. In 2006, after deciding to dive into major philanthropy, Najim sought the counsel of associates and friends, such as Phil Hardberger and Tracy and Nelson Wolff.

He choose to hone his giving to the needs of low-income children — food, shelter, clothing, medical treatment, early education and help for kids with disabilities.

The roster of charities that have benefited includes nonprofits large and small, such as the Carver Academy, Respite Care of San Antonio, Brighton School, KIPP Aspire Academy, Hope for the Future, the Children’s Shelter and Morgan’s Wonderland, to name a few.

Early education is a particular passion for Najim, who was the first member of his family to attend and graduate from college. While a supporter of public school, Najim is also a huge fan of charter and faith-based schools. He’s a firm believer in school choice.

“Every parent should have the right to put their child into the kind of school they want,” he said. “Low-income families who want their children to go to faith-based schools or charter schools should be able to.”

Najim said he believes good preschools are an important goal, but that early intervention must be matched by high-quality curricula and other supports as the child ages.

When NuStar chairman and Haven for Hope founder Bill Greehey approached Najim about funding the creation of a children’s center and playground at Haven, the city’s main homeless center, the plight of homeless children entered the latter’s radar screen.

“Did you know the average age of a homeless person is 9?” said Najim, the father of two grown daughters and the husband of Nancy F. Najim, neé May, president and CEO of the San Antonio Humane Society, whom he married last year.

Along with the collection of framed thank-you notes, children’s artwork and other artifacts of a life of generosity that covers the hallways of Sirius, a shelf in Najim’s office holds his various business plaudits, including the IBM Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2009, Najim was inducted into the San Antonio Business Hall of Fame; the next year, he was inducted into the Texas Business Hall of Fame.

Last year, as chairman of the annual United Way Campaign, Najim led the organization to raise a record-breaking $55 million.

“It was a highlight of my career,” he said.

Gordon Hartman, another major philanthropist and close associate of Najim’s, said it’s hard to overestimate the impact on the city of his friend’s generosity.

“Over the last nine years, it’s been monumental,” Hartman said. “Many people say they’re going to do something to give back; Harvey’s done two to three times more than what he said he would do. And it’s not just his financial generosity — he gets his hands dirty, reaches out to others to get them involved, makes phone calls, devotes the time and hours it takes to really make things happen.”

But Najim doesn’t do what he does for the accolades. One of his proudest achievements? Creating jobs for 1,600 people — an impact that expands to include some 6,000 people when you add in spouses and children, he said. He’s proud of the “culture of community service” that he’s instilled in his employees, one of six key values that guide his leadership.

He’s proud that he encourages his employees to maintain a healthy work-life balance.

As he looks to the future, Najim said the city must help low-income youth gain access to training to prepare them for good-paying jobs in the medical and technology fields. It’s the only way out of the inter-generational poverty that ensnarls too many families, he said.

Above all, Najim said, he remains committed to living out his favorite saying, first uttered by Children’s Defense Fund founder Marian Wright Edelman, which he can recite by heart: “Service is the rent we pay for living. It is the very purpose of life, and not something you do in your spare time.”