Years ago, a business owner called me all excited about our ministry and our desire to promote integrity. He invited me to tour his machine tooling business. Amazingly, this CEO bragged about his integrity and how important ethics were to him throughout the tour. When people constantly promote their own integrity, it can be a smokescreen for trouble. Part way ...
A Silicon Valley venture capitalist recently asked me how a CEO, in a spiritually dark community like Silicon Valley, could apply biblical principles to business when so many are offended by the Christian faith. Many Christians would love an easy way to make a difference without offending anyone. Although we need to treat others with respect, leaders also need to ...
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, over 3 million students will graduate from college this year. As they enter the workplace, many do not yet know that God has a purpose and a plan for their work beyond just making money. That is unfortunate, because the workplace can be a stern taskmaster. Without a sense of calling, it’s ...
Sustainability is a hot topic in many nonprofit board rooms. A donation-only model doesn’t seem sustainable to many business leaders who serve on nonprofit boards. It’s their nature to look for ways to help increase profits in the nonprofit world. But is that always God’s preference? In Luke 10, Jesus commissioned 36 new “nonprofits” when he sent his 72 disciples ...
During a panel discussion Integrity Resource Center hosted, Steve Darr, former CEO of CTA, Inc., was asked about ways that he shaped the culture of his business. He shared that at each staff meeting every employee recited the mission statement and values of the company. They found ways to make this exercise fun, but CTA’s leadership wanted to be confident ...
When I was a banker I financed several homebuilders and their subcontractors. The subcontractors typically were to be paid within 30 days of when the homebuilder was paid. The reality, however, was closer to 60 to 90 days, if not longer. One of my most profitable builders, however, was unconventional. He intentionally paid his subcontractors almost immediately upon receiving his ...
Roger, a new friend of mine recently shared with me about how his company handled the economic downturn in 2009. Their business was significantly impacted and needed to slash payroll. But leadership chose to look beyond the conventional employee layoffs. After much thought, leadership chose to retain all employees by cutting wages. The highest paid workers took the biggest pay ...
On a recent vacation, my friends, Phil and Gina, were discussing the importance of observing people and events with a quiet mind. For example: The young captain on their dinner cruise who was as enthused as the guests when whales were spotted! Or when the captain gave the wheel to one of his crew members while he helped serve dinner. ...
Pharaoh was a prosperous business person who had built his success on the backs of slave labor. Not just a few slaves, but hundreds of thousands of slaves. Then Moses demanded that Pharaoh release the Israelites. When Pharaoh refused, God began applying pressure through multiple plagues to reveal to Pharaoh that God was really in control. In Exodus 8:32, and ...
The biggest hurdle in advancing the Faith at Work Movement has oftentimes been the church. Historically, many pastors have had a flawed theological view of work. I suspect that many believed they had a calling, but doubted anyone else was called to the workplace. Fortunately, there is some exciting movement forward. A study sponsored by Le Tourneau University found that in 2011 ...
Equipping Others to Do Work Differently
