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INTEGRITY
A good
name is to be chosen rather than great riches,
and favor is better than silver or gold
—Proverbs 22:1
In biblical days, most people
did not read or write, so business was conducted
based on the spoken word. And just as a written
document is binding today in a court of law, so
was an oral agreement in the early days. (An oral
agreement is also binding under current law; however,
in the absence of a willing witness, it is difficult
to prove.) The way I see it, a businessperson
is obligated to be honor-bound to live by the
spoken word. To paraphrase an old cliche, a man
is only as good as his word. Standing behind your
word is every bit as relevant today as it was
when a handshake was all that it took to seal
a business deal.
We are told in 2 Corinthians 5:17-20 that we
are ambassadors for God. As ambassadors of God,
we represent him, each and every day of our lives.
In this capacity, each of us has a twenty-four-hour-a-day
commitment, on and off the job. Yet, not all businesspeople
recognize their ambassadorship. To gain an edge
over a competitor, many people are prone to give
in to the temptation to engage in unprincipled
practices.
“It's business,” they claim. “It's
a cutthroat, dog-eat-dog world. To get ahead,
I have to get the other guy before he gets me!”
They rationalize, “You don't understand.
It's okay because this is business.”
No matter how fierce the competition, this attitude
has no place in the workplace. Personal values
should never be put aside--nor should standards
be lowered to the level of the unscrupulous. As
a business owner, I have an obligation to lead
by example. This position puts me in the limelight:
My actions are observed, and people know when
I do right by them.
My wife is my partner in life, and she and I
believe my company represents who we are. Together,
we have prayed and have dedicated our business
to God. It is our ministry, and through it, we
are doing God's work. It is our temple, and by
serving our employees, they, in turn, serve our
customers and suppliers. Only with integrity can
we successfully serve so many others.
During the early years of my company, we endured
many setbacks. When we were hard-pressed for money,
we could have cut corners in subtle ways, to turn
a profit. We all know of business owners who manipulate
their books, cut back slightly on the quality
of their product or services, and find excuses
to avoid properly compensating deserving employees.
The temptation to profit at someone else's expense
is widespread.
For instance, a short while ago, a customer submitted
an overpayment of about $1 million to our company.
We could have easily buried this error in our
books and kept quiet about it. But it was not
the right thing to do. Just as we taught our children
to pay for an item at a store's checkout counter,
even if the salesclerk has overlooked it, we apply
the same principle in business. Consequently,
we sent a check for the full amount of the overpayment
to our customer with a letter of explanation.
In business, there are always temptations to
do the wrong thing. The Bible addresses temptations
(Luke 4:1-11), describing how Jesus spent forty
days in the wilderness during which time the devil
tried again and again to tempt him. During this
period, Jesus ate nothing and was famished. The
devil said to him, “If you are the Son of
God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.”
Jesus answered, “One does not live by bread
alone.”
Then Jesus was offered the wealth of all the
kingdoms of the world, but in exchange, he must
worship the devil. Jesus replied that he would
worship and serve only God.
Next, the devil challenged Jesus to leap from
the pinnacle of the temple, suggesting that if
he were the Son of God, the angels would protect
him from injury.
Jesus answered him, “It is said, `Do not
put the Lord your God to the test.”'
Following Jesus' example when he refused to submit
to temptation, I don't believe in compromising
values, regardless of how convenient it may seem
at the time. It doesn't matter how many other
people do wrong things, each of us must still
do what's right. We must do what we say and live
by our word.
A person's reputation is a most valued asset,
one to be treasured. One's reputation is based
on whether one keeps his or her word. We are taught
in Proverbs 22:1: “A good name is to be
chosen rather than great riches, and favor is
better than silver or gold.” It takes a
lifetime to build a good reputation, but it can
be lost overnight.
And what better heritage can parents pass on
to their children than a good name? I believe
this applies to a company as well. Senior managers
must conduct themselves with integrity, because
ultimately that integrity passes on to the next
generation of managers. As my company's CEO, I
do not take this responsibility lightly.
While it is true that I prosper from the success
of my company, my goal is to build a business
to benefit current and future employees--men and
women who will work at this company when I am
no longer here. In years to come, the prosperity
of those people will rest, in part, on the foundation
of integrity we build today.
(Click
here to view this chapter in PDF.)
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