On a “60 Minutes” segment on bike racing, Istvan Varjis, a Hungarian inventor, was interviewed about a small motor that he designed that could secretly propel bicycles forward much faster. He believes that his motor has been used to cheat in the Tour de France since 1998. During the interview, Istvan was asked, “If someone told you they were going ...
Years ago, I negotiated an employment contract with my employer. It was designed to pay me a significant amount of money if the business was sold. Later, the business was sold, but the buyer considered refusing to pay me. Although the intent of the contract was clear, the wordy legal agreement the attorneys had originally drafted left some ambiguity that ...
Mark was trying to grow his trucking business when he met a successful retired business owner. Mark was excited when this man offered to come in and help him grow his business. Months later, Mark called me for counsel. The man who had offered to help didn’t embrace Mark’s values. He learned Mark’s business, only to later take many of ...
When I was a banker, many banks became adept at encouraging their banking representatives to increase profits by selling multiple accounts to each new customer. It seems Wells Fargo took this practice to a whole new level. It’s reported that Wells Fargo employees opened over 1.5 million new accounts for customers without their permission, generating millions in fees. Over 5,000 ...
The second Presidential Debate of 2016 felt like a street fight rather than a debate as each candidate repeatedly pummeled the other verbally. Then, unexpectedly, there was a moment of graciousness. A man asked each candidate to share one thing about the other candidate that they admired. Surprisingly, both candidates took the question seriously and answered with a legitimate response. ...
The final letter in our TRUST acronym is T for Truth. You can serve others, build a strong relationship, and even exceed expectations, yet undermine all the trust you’ve built by lying. Jesus only spoke Truth. Before committing to follow him, Peter and Andrew spent enough time with Jesus, that they knew whether or not He was a liar. The ...
One of my daughters recently experienced car trouble and was needing to take her car to a repair shop. Before she left, she said to me, “I’m really nervous about going to these kind of places, because I don’t know much about cars, and I’m afraid they’ll take advantage of me.” When we’re forced to buy services that we don’t ...
Tim Weinhold, Director of Faith and Business for Eventide Funds, recently wrote about the growing disparity between the rich and the poor. Not only has the world’s wealth become concentrated to just a few individuals, the middle class’ net worth has declined 25% from 1983 to 2013, during record economic growth and corporate profits. Weinhold’s research points to the 1980s ...
Prior to Philadelphia’s famous Wanamaker’s department store, prices were usually established by haggling with the shopkeeper. John Wanamaker, a department store legend in the early 1900s, had a philosophical problem with haggling so he invented a fixed price amount for price tags and the money-back guarantee. His problem with the practice of haggling flowed out of his spiritual roots. He ...
In my book, “Unconventional Business,” I highlight four marketing challenges that many of us face in the marketplace in trying to do marketing with truth and love. The final marketing challenge is “Sponsoring Sin.” A friend of ours owns a consumer product company which frequently advertises on television and radio. Early on they discovered the importance of monitoring what their ...
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