Business Principles From Proverbs

A Benefit of Wisdom

Proverbs 2:12 " Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse."

The statement that wisdom will save you, demands a definition of not only wisdom, but also what are the ways of wicked men.  A study of Proverbs will lead one to get a good grasp of wisdom; however it may be best to offer several definitions here to begin a foundation of knowledge for this principle.  One definition might include making decisions today that will positively impact the future.  This decision making must be directed by an inner set of principles, resulting in actions that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy.  Therefore, the ability to determine right from wrong must be part of wisdom’s characteristics. 

As we mentally review the attributes of people we consider wise, it involves a person who exhibits peace and patience. They are people of personal discipline that set standards we all admire.  They also were other centered and rarely speak out of turn or rashly.  As James so clearly wrote, they are quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.  It becomes evident that they dependent on God’s power instead of their own.

In contrast, the ways of wicked men are ones of lies, deceit, envy, dishonesty, racism, arrogance, murder, theft, lust, perversion and all of the consequences associated with an uninhibited hedonistic lifestyle.  Perhaps it is the personal consequences that stand out enough to catch our attention and mitigate our behavior.  They may include the fall from a place of honor, loss of earning power, imprisonment, fines and family disgrace mark the downfall of a wicked person.  Names from history like Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini and Sadam Hussein stand out on the world stage as wicked men beyond imagination.

On a more personal level we are called to watch closely who we become friends with and who we work with.  We rarely are provided the opportunity to choose our peers. Consequently it is not uncommon to be teamed with people who have suspect motives, questionable conduct and deal in some level of perversity.  In that particular case some important decisions need to be made about this forced relationship.  One of the first issues is to decide who will influence who.  If your unhealthy co-worker us focusing on an area of weakness for you, it may be best to opt out of that work situation.  If they make each day an unbearable grind, then some level of confrontation is called for.  Optimally,  it would be best if this work assignment is seen as a God ordered situation that allows you to influence the offender.

In the United States we are fortunate to be provided with the legal protection to worship as we please and conduct our business in an ethical manner that is supported by company standards and the laws of the country.  As a conservative, seeking to avoid worldly patterns and conduct our business in an honest manner, the consequences are frequently no worse than avoidance by others.  It is also possible to see yourself passed over for opportunities that may have been yours should you have played the corner-cutting ways of the world.

However, a pure approach to business has many rewards.  This approach builds trust with all the associated parties, yields a clear conscience, provides long-term employment, return customers and frequently yields financial security.

In contrast, it can be observed that the wicked truly do pay for their conduct.  Ethical associates will shun professional involvement with them.  Opportunities involving trust and professional decorum will be passed along to others.  They will be leaders only of others with a similar world-view.  A marginal reputation will follow their conduct which few will can to emulate. 

Although not always visibly evident, the deepest consequence becomes the separation from God that wicked attitudes and conduct yield.  This level of misery has no peer.

The Application: 

Are you pursuing wisdom in a sufficient enough manner to avoid wicked individuals and escape negative consequences?  Is your pursuit of wisdom yielding a closer relationship with God?

Discipline at Work is the Manager’s Responsibility 

PROVERBS 3:11-12  "My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in".

With the role of the manager, come the duties of the disciplinarian. It becomes that person’s responsibility to communicate standards and enforce the rules with all the employees on an equal basis.  This role includes training, mentoring, caring, concern, encouragement, plus setting personal standards and discipline. 

When a personal discipline event occurs, the manager must be very objective about the job lapse.  Always reprimand in private, but before the disciplinary comment, affirm their importance to the organization and follow it by some compliment or positive comment about the job performance.  It is critical to clearly communicate individual employee responsibilities and authority before job assignments; otherwise the manager is not in an ethical position to address a conduct issue.  All these actions should be done with an attitude of care and concern for the individual.  Always keeping in mind the individual and the organizations best long term mutual benefit must be served.

Steps in discipline

•  Recognition of the problem

•  Address the problem with a clear explanation of the standards, where the deficiencies exist and then institute corrective action plans.

•  Observe the conduct after retraining and other corrective actions are in force

•  Readdress the issue if unresolved – provide additional training, mentoring

•  Failure to rectify yields personal discipline (demotion, reprimand, loss of merit increase, suspension, termination)

The exception to these guidelines is a list of automatic termination offenses communicated during employee orientation.  As an example, they may include:

intoxication on the job, drug abuse, possession of weapons, fighting, blatant violation of safety rules, sexual badgering, bribes, theft and fraud.

As a new manager, I clearly remember breaking with the required communication and retraining aspect of the five step program.  In hindsight, I can see that ignorance of the procedure and a failure to fully confront the issues with the employee were weaknesses on my part.  The eventual termination of this individual was clearly unfair because of my failure to fully inform the individual where he was deficient. Even though I had spoken to him about my concerns, there is deep regret that I failed to have the integrity to fully confront the man with his specific deficiencies.

The need for confrontation is a significant aspect of the manager’s role in discipline.  You simply cannot allow your associates possible dislike of you to interfere with the long term well being of both the employee and the company.  Integrity demands that the manager accept the need for confrontation. 

The Application:

Develop a set of standards that the associates can trust will be maintained and have the fortitude to quickly confront deviation from those standards.

A Firm, Level Highway in Difficult and Easy Times

Proverbs 3: 5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not own your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Are you struggling with a business decision that has you perplexed?  Have you just read this verse and wondered how trusting in God really plays out in the highly competitive business environment we exist in today?  How do you acknowledge him and allow him to make your paths straight?

The first issue is trust.  To trust someone or something means to have done sufficient research or had experience that allows you to place your confidence and future at risk. Then following their recommendations, guidelines for conducting business, or trusting the product will allow you to proceed with some level of confidence.

So what’s wrong with leaning on your own understanding?  Plenty; if it is not constrained and shaped by God’s guidelines and commandments.  Given no Godly training and  Spiritual input, we are all prone to be motivated by the desire to be famous, rich and please ourselves physically. 

You acknowledge him by living a humble lifestyle, satisfied with God’s provisions and abstaining from physical pleasures outside of God’s standards for living. Humble and satisfied does not mean downtrodden or allowing yourself to be a doormat.  Rather, it means giving credit to God and others when due. Being satisfied with God’s provisions means a lack of greed in your attitude and lifestyle. However, nothing in the previous statements says you cannot have high level goals, or strive to improve your situation.

Working for God on your job, instead of allowing it to become your primary source of self-worth is another way of acknowledging him.  Nothing in these guidelines says you cannot practice excellence in your occupation.  But when you are rewarded for a high level of performance, remember that it is God who gave you the assets to achieve that excellence.

Depending on the fickle character of man or the ever changing corporate criteria for what spells success leads to a rat race lifestyle of emotional highs and lows.  Being satisfied with God’s deep love for you means not looking to others for your esteem and self worth. 

Straight paths provide us with many of the answers to today’s perplexing business problems.  Does the proposed answer or future plan violate any of God’s commandments for living?  Don’t do it.  Does the future plan serve only senior management and the major stockholders? Don’t do it.  Does the future plan put the future of the company at risk for total failure? Don’t do it.  Are you on the brink of making a major business decision without consulting wise counsel?  Don’t do it.

Do Proverbs and the remainder of the Bible address every specific issue that you may encounter? No.  However, there are many commandments and guidelines that will provide answers and templates to address the specific issues that you are facing.  Obtain a study Bible with a thorough concordance and research the issues.  Be sure to reference multiple scriptures to insure your guidance is not taken out of context.  Consult wise, experienced, well-educated Bible scholars and be sensitive to look for circumstances that direct your future activities.  Pray and ask for guidance.

The Application: 

You can trust in the Lord with all your heart because He is love.  He allows us to know Him and has our best in mind.  His consequences lead to straight paths. 

Sound Judgment and Discernment Produce Confidence 

PROVERBS 3:21 "My son, preserve sound judgment and discernment, do not let them out of your sight."

In the verses following Proverbs 3:21, we are promised that sound judgment and discernment produce life, safety, confidence, sweet sleep, and no fear of sudden disaster or ruin.

For senior management, sound judgment and discernment are critical issues for the future of the company.  What markets to enter or exit?  Where to put the research and development funds?  What capital investments are to be made?  How to secure funding?  What are the sales and marketing strategies?  Where is the product manufactured?  All of these issues involve a significant amount of research, judgment and discernment.  An eye on the long-term viability of the company is essential.

However, for many of us the decisions made on a daily basis will not cause the company to go under.  Never the less, these decisions need to be made with a level of integrity that create no doubt in anyone’s mind that sound judgment was exercised.  The trust you create with your superiors will virtually eliminate the fear of discipline.

For the employees with customer contact responsibility, there should be no exaggeration or false statements concerning the product’s features, history, future viability or capabilities.  Expenses should be kept within company guidelines. Expense reporting has to be done to the highest ethical standard.  .

The utmost care should be taken when hiring new associates.  As a supervisor, the manner in which you treat your subordinates should be with respect and dignity.  As a subordinate, the positive attitude towards the job and respect given your manager should be the best possible. The efforts to fulfill your job description should be done with a conscientiousness that clearly indicates you are practicing Christian principles.

Any responsibilities regarding the use of company funds must be conducted with strict adherence to absolute truthfulness and company guidelines. As one explores the individual expertise required to perform a job, it demands the proper level of education.  Then in addition to the right education, the application of experience gained on the job to create efficiencies becomes a critical issue. 

These examples are just a few of the areas in which sound judgment and discernment should be practiced.  As you learn and practice sound judgment, watch for the overt and subtle signs of the benefits.  Confidence in your actions and relationships begins to get stronger. Sound judgment promotes more sound judgment.  Discernment leads to respect for your judgment and the personal confidence that your decisions are best for the company. 

Perhaps you have experienced a situation where emotions took over from sound judgment and eventually the venture failed.  I was involved in an industrial distribution company for 18 years.  My employer had a strong market share and national presence in the safety equipment business.  Sound judgment and discernment had built a very successful business.  The culture of the company produced a strong confidence that with hard work, any market could be conquered. 

However, by the early 1990’s, it was clear that full line Material Repair and Operating distribution companies were the wave of the future.  Specialty market distribution was soon to be relegated to a minor niche in the overall MRO marketplace.  Even though a small full line industrial supplier was purchased in the Louisiana market, their product lines were never made available to the rest of the country.  The company hung on to the old safety products only mentality, even though business was being lost weekly to integrated suppliers. 

The sound judgment that built the company was abandoned.  The failure to face a clearly communicated future began to take its toll on morale.  The low morale began to result on the loss of talented employees.  Eventually the majority owner negotiated a purchase by an international full line industrial products distribution company.  Literally hundreds of people lost their jobs or moved on.  Only a handful of company insiders enjoyed the benefits of the sale.  This is a classic case of  a lack of judgment and discernment that produced a loss of confidence in the ability to cope with the future and the corresponding demise of the company. 

Adhering to sound Biblically based decision making criteria produces a confidence in your decisions that comes from the purity and faith context in which you make them.  Your sound judgment will be born out over time as the reliability of your decisions is verified by the results they produce.

The Application:

If applicable, choose an area of compromise in your current work conduct and commit to a new standard that serves as a principle of conduct when that particular temptation surfaces.

Withholding Good?

Proverbs 3:27 Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act.

This is an interesting Proverb, because of the stipulation stating those who deserve it tends to separate it from other instructions in the Bible.  Many times the Bible encourages unmerited favor and forgiveness. Mercy towards the undeserving is one of the major tenants of Christian theology. In this context, let us focus our attention on the verse