Imagine being selected to manage a wireless phone store. The first week you leave your boss a voice mail with some concerns. But, when your boss responds you never listen to his voice mail! The next week you leave another voice mail. This time your boss mails you the operating manual, but you never read it! The third week you ...
The Harvard Business Review published an article titled, “Why Ethical People Make Unethical Choices.” This article highlighted five ways that organizations needlessly provoke so-called good people to make unethical choices. This week we’re going to discuss these five organizational flaws. The first one is, “It is psychologically unsafe to speak up.” If an employee believes that no one wants to ...
Al Robertson of Duck Dynasty shared at an Integrity Resource dinner about when the Arts and Entertainment channel pitched their idea for Duck Dynasty to the Robertson family. Al said that after the television executives pitched their idea, all eyes turned to Phil Robertson for his reaction. Eventually, Phil picked up his worn-out Bible, held it up and asked, “Is ...
Many business leaders struggle in allowing God a voice in bringing on a partner or a key leader. This is especially true in rapidly growing companies that need significant capital. Many businesses start with a desire to please God, only to turn control over to investors who only cared about the bottom line. This can gut the culture of the ...
In the 1880s, Henry Crowell struggled to convert his Quaker Mill from serving oats only for horses, to a place that made breakfast cereal for people. Mr. Crowell, contrary to most business people of that time, took his business problem to the Lord. Henry soon had a brilliant idea. He would package his oats into attractive cardboard boxes that would ...
In 1931, R.G. LeTourneau’s business was deep in debt. He was forced to obey his bonding company’s rules to save his business. According to his biography, R.G., known as the “Dean of Earthmoving Equipment,” was told if he didn’t work on Sundays that the bonding company would take over his project. LeTourneau prayed about what to do. He was instructed ...
The true sign of the strength of a leader in God’s worldview is one who embraces humility rather than power. Abe Lincoln once said, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” In my opinion, one character trait undervalued is humility. The craving for power and control can consume many ...
This week I’m addressing the importance of selecting the right leaders for a board or church. In Titus 1:8, Paul said about overseers, “Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.” Today we’ll focus on being self-controlled. The meaning of this word in the context of Paul’s directive is someone moderate in their ...
There’s an interesting contrast in the Bible between Saul and David. King Saul twice violated God’s commands about handling the spoils of battle. Saul’s consequence was for God to reject him as king. David, however, had an affair with Bathsheba, and killed Uriah to cover up his affair. Yet, God gave David a second chance. In 2 Samuel 12, we ...
Ken Eldred, author of “Integrated Life,” wrote in a Washington Times article that many today feel the “Business suit, not one’s character, is the measure of a man.” Ken went on to say, “Character is the long-lost ingredient of successful capitalism, and, biblical values are the underlying values of the character ethic.” Many of our successful business practices flow out ...
Equipping Others to Do Work Differently
