Leading Christianly

Does the Golden Rule still ring true?

I recently spoke at the first annual SBA Faith-Based Small Business Summit in Ontario before a couple of hundred business people.  My presentation centered on ethics in business.  The main point of the presentation was this: regardless of markets, laws and science, there is no replacement for the Golden Rule given by Christ: "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 7:12, NIV). Our society has turned to these other areas for guidance instead of the Bible.  If people had followed Christ's words instead of using a patchwork of laws, economic incentives, and financial manipulations (the investment banking firms had nobel prize winners in physics designing their financial instruments), we would not be in the mess we are in.

After the presentation, a Christian woman came up to me and asked me if I knew about the "Platinum Rule."  She explained that she was involved with corporate diversity training. She was feeling stressed because as a believer, she had to teach that "we should do unto others as they would have us do unto them."  She was troubled because this new-age ethic seemed to be even better than the guidance provided by our Faith.

Here is what I told her, after taking some time to think deeply about this.

I asked her this: "Whose values guide your interaction based upon the new Platinum Rule?" She answered that her listener's values would guide the interaction.  I then asked her, "Whose values guide the interaction if you follow the Christ's "Golden Rule": do unto others as you would have them do unto you?"  She got it: as Christians, our values are Christ's values. When a Christian practices the Golden Rule, he or she is practicing Christ's values allowing his or her Christian faith to guide the relationship. Because she was a Believer, she was given a whole set of principles and values that make relationships work.

Using the Platinum Rule, anything goes!  Such a condition brings to mind many scary thoughts.  I now call it the "Cubic Zirconium" (fake diamond) rule.  If you look at the 5,000 year history of the Jews, you can see the power of God's word. It holds true in any storm. As a nation, and like the Jews on may occasions, we have strayed and gotten ourselves into a great mess by falling into a relativistic worldview. Just like the Jews, we have only one option, if we want the full blessings of the Creator.

On another note. These past weeks have been very rough on all of our investments. What should we do now?  It is important to recognize what is driving market behavior right now.  I am certain that it is fear. The Bible says "Fear not" over 365 times. Do not doubt God's power in the storm, but be confident in His faithfulness. I conclude that now is the time is to bring the message of hope to our communities, be at peace, and turn to our Lord as our strength and strong tower, and not join the others in running for cover.

Dr. Jeff Decker, Ph.D.
Chair, M.A. in Organizational Leadership
Biola University

To submit an article for publication in the Leading Christianly blog, please email Sarah Ailes at sarah.ailes@biola.edu

A Million Little Mistakes

Oprah Winfrey had no idea what she was getting into when she anointed James Frey’s book, A Million Little Pieces, as one of her Book-of-the-Month selections last year.  Frey’s book is the retelling of his personal experiences of drug abuse, imprisonment, violence, and even the death of a friend.  In a few short years, according to his book, Frey had experienced more than most people would in several lifetimes.

There was only one problem: Most of Frey’s memoir simply wasn’t true.

Thanks to a meticulous, 13,000-word investigative journalism story written by an online “new media” company, the nonfiction account was exposed as a larger-than-life fictional account that sold better as a memoir than it would have as a novel.

When the story broke, Ms. Winfrey stuck by her man, claiming it was “much ado about nothing.”  After all, she claimed, many people have been encouraged to survive and even move beyond their own mistakes, thanks to the courage and honesty of Frey.

In truth, Ms. Winfrey was probably hoping the whole nightmare would just go away.  It didn’t.  In fact, following Ms. Winfrey dismissal, she proceeded to received thousands of emails and postings on her corporate message board criticizing her for not standing up for truth and for failing to recognize that the ends don’t justify the means.

In an amazing broadcast, aired live from Ms. Winfrey’s Chicago studios on January 26, 2006, Ms. Winfrey faced her viewers, told them she was wrong and they were right, and then proceeded to dismantle Mr. Frey and his book and set the story straight.

The lessons we can learn from this sad tale are many.  Here are three:

1)    Never forget what is MOST important.  While I have no idea what drove Ms. Winfrey to initially respond the way she did, her dismissal seemed to focus on the preservation of her image more than the public’s trust.  Yet their trust in her is everything.  Without it, there is no Oprah talk show, no O magazine, no HARPO Productions…

2)    Be careful with whom you partner.  Part of your brand is contingent on who you work with, who you endorse, whose products you sell.  Before you sign a contract or go public with a partnership, you might want to conduct a background check.

3)    Own up to your mistakes. Quickly.  There is no substitute for being truthful.

Because truth matters,

Curt Swindoll
Professor for
MA in Organizational Leadership
Biola University

Ethics on the Line

I’ve observed some things lately that I never thought I would see: companies offering kickbacks to ministry employees in exchange for signing a contract on behalf of their ministry employer.  Unfortunately, employees are accepting the offer.

At best, such behavior is a conflict of interest.  At worst, it is fraud.  So what do we do when confronted with this kind of information?  I believe we have a responsibility to act.

I wish it were that simple.  What if kickbacks are being offered by one of your competitors?  By acting on this information, are you acting out of compassion for the organization/client? Or out of your own self-interests?

Advisory boards are helpful in thinking through ethical issues like this.  Equally helpful is to adopt of a set of guiding principles or standards before you find yourself facing an ethical dilemma.  The Bible offers a great one in Matthew 7:12: “In everything, treat people the same way you want them to treat you….” Basically, it’s the Golden Rule.

I recently ran across a great set of principles by Bruce Weinstein, a noted author and speaker on the subject of ethics.  Here is his set of five principles:

1)    Do no harm.
2)    Make things better.
3)    Respect others.
4)    Be fair.
5)    Be charitable.

Notably absent from this list is “protect yourself,” a principle which often serves as a strong voice calling us to remain quiet.  When was the last time we honored a hero because, above all else, he or she “protected” himself or herself?  Never.

Mr. Weinstein’s principles make my decision about what to do in this situation much easier.  They encourage me to set aside my natural inclination to self-protect, and challenge me instead to act, to “make things better” for the ministry by letting their leadership know they have a staff member who may be acting out of self-interest and not the highest interests of the ministry.  How they respond is their business, but they need to know.

One thing I don’t advocate is making public announcements or informing the media, as those actions potentially bring harm to more than just those who are engaging in unethical activities.

Might your actions and motives be misunderstood?  Absolutely.  Welcome to leadership.  That’s a risk you have to be willing to take.  Personally speaking, much of my professional career has been dedicated to seeing nonprofit organizations grow in God-honoring ways.  To sit by and watch dishonorable actions hurt ministry reputations goes against everything I’ve tried to accomplish in my career.

I encourage you to commit to a set of principles before you find yourself faced with a difficult choice.  Widespread corruption erupts one decision at a time—first, by those who choose to do wrong, then by others who, in their silence, condone it.

The future depends on our holding each other accountable to a set of moral and ethical standards.  Stand up for what is right. Let’s encourage each other to consider the right thing, then actually do the right thing. 

Towards a higher standard,

Curt Swindoll
Professor for
MA in Organizational Leadership
Biola University