Author: Paul Michalski

27 Jul

Posted at 05:30h in Integriosity Blog, Integrity Ideas by

From time to time, we are devoting posts to describing specific actions a faithful leader can consider in leading faithfully through business a better way.  We are calling these Integrity Ideas.   INTEGRITY IDEA: Fund an Employee Fund COVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action):  Practices COVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt):  Highly Covert STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees Most Integrity Ideas are practical actions...

20 Jul

Posted at 05:30h in Integriosity Blog, Integrity Ideas by

From time to time, we are devoting posts to describing specific actions a faithful leader can consider in leading faithfully through business a better way.  We are calling these Integrity Ideas.   INTEGRITY IDEA: Promote an ERG COVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action):  People COVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt):  Highly Covert STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees Most Integrity Ideas are practical actions that...

13 Jul

Posted at 05:30h in Integriosity Blog, Integrity Ideas by

From time to time, we are devoting posts to describing specific actions a faithful leader can consider in leading faithfully through business a better way.  We are calling these Integrity Ideas.   INTEGRITY IDEA: Pay Today COVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action):  Practices COVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt):  Highly Covert STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees, Customers/Clients, Suppliers/Vendors Most Integrity Ideas are practical actions...

06 Jul

Posted at 05:30h in Integriosity Blog, Integrity Ideas by

ESSENCE:  From time to time, we are devoting posts to describing specific actions a faithful leader can consider in leading faithfully through business a better way.  We are calling these Integrity Ideas.   INTEGRITY IDEA: Proclaim a Faithful Purpose COVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action):  Proclamation COVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt):  Highly Covert or Highly Overt STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Kingdom Most Integrity...

29 Jun

Posted at 05:30h in Integriosity Blog, Integrity Ideas by

From time to time, we are devoting posts to describing specific actions a faithful leader can consider in leading faithfully through business a better way. We are calling these Integrity Ideas. INTEGRITY IDEA: Hire a chaplain to be available for employees COVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action): Prayer COVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): ...

22 Jun

Posted at 05:30h in Integriosity Blog, Integrity Ideas by

From time to time, we will now begin describing specific actions a leader can consider during the Re-Align step of Integriosity®--actions that will begin to Re-Align the organization with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities.  We will call the posts "Integrity Ideas". The Integriosity model organizes "heart change" along six Covert-Overt Continuums, and breaks the Covert-Overt Continuums into six gradations that...

15 Jun

Posted at 05:30h in Integriosity Blog by

A life of faith is a life of choices. For a faithful leader, one of those choices is the "O" that drives their leadership.  There are two options--obedience or outcome.  It is a choice between the kingdom of this world and the Kingdom of God. It is one or the other--business as usual or business a better way. It is...

08 Jun

Posted at 05:30h in Integriosity Blog by

Faithful leaders seeking to lead faithfully can get detoured from the ancient path toward business a better way.  We call those detours Side Roads when they substitute a lesser "good" for transformational heart-change in the organization--transformation of its WHY.  In prior posts we identified six: Agonizing, Individualizing, Monetizing, Cosmeticizing, Prosperitizing and Interimizing.   We recently encountered a situation that is leading...

01 Jun

Posted at 05:30h in Integriosity Blog by

There is much talk about the intersection of "work" and "ministry".  We believe there are three main ways that "work" and "ministry" intersect, only one of which is true faith/work integration--complete alignment.  There is Ministry AT Work (work as a platform for ministry), Ministry THROUGH Work (work as a vehicle for ministry) and Ministry OF Work (work as ministry).  Unlike...

25 May

Posted at 05:30h in Integriosity Blog by

Understanding Imago Dei is central to changing the heart of an organization to align with Biblical beliefs, values and priorities. Understanding that every human being is created in the image of God has important implications for work and business.  It is through understanding Imago Dei that we recognize every person is more “fully human” when engaged in meaningful work that...

18 May

Posted at 05:30h in Integriosity Blog by

Sadly, "capitalism" has become a four-letter word for many people. Just as there are dozens of ways to define capitalism, there are dozens of terms people have come up with to describe the problems with capitalism that have made it a four-letter word and dozens of terms people have come up with to prescribe ways to move capitalism out...

11 May

Posted at 05:30h in Integriosity Blog by

We believe the mass exodus of workers being called the "Great Resignation" can more appropriately be called the "Great De-Humanization", not only for what caused it but also for what it is causing.  A recent study concluded that "toxic work culture is the single best predictor" of which organizations suffered the most attrition.  It seems people left organizations with busines...

04 May

Posted at 05:30h in Integriosity Blog by

It is impossible to talk honestly about the WHAT, WHY and HOW of business in alignment with Biblical beliefs, values and priorities without addressing how profit fits in.  Profit is NOT bad, and the creation by business of economic prosperity is good. Profit in a business is necessary for good stewardship of the business, which means it is necessary for...

27 Apr

Posted at 05:30h in Integriosity Blog by

“Faithful vs willful” really is a daily choice that a "faithful business-leader" must accept and wrestle with in order to lead faithfully. Even the phrase “faithful business-leader” seems to hold the tension of the “faithful/willful” dilemma. A “faithful” person wants to put God first. A “business-leader” is expected to be ruthlessly “willful” in their effort to achieve increased profits...

20 Apr

Posted at 05:30h in Integriosity Blog by

Easter is important for every faith-inspired worker or business leader because it should serve as a reminder of a bigger WHY for our work and business rooted in God's Restoration plan for His Kingdom.  N.T. Wright writes that the resurrection represents the beginning of God's new project "to colonize earth with the life of heaven."  Believing that Easter is the...

13 Apr

Posted at 05:30h in Integriosity Blog by

We believe words are important and powerful.   Words (and disordered words) can either support or undermine efforts to move an organization's culture toward faithfully "doing right" through business a better way.  Disordered words can affect how leaders shape an organization's culture and view its WHY--the heart of the organization.  For example, "integrate your faith into your work" is just one...

06 Apr

Posted at 05:35h in Integriosity Blog by

We believe words are important and powerful.  The culture of the world is filled with words that blind us to God’s purpose for work--words that reinforce work as a burden to be avoided rather than a blessing of God's creation.  Disordered words that embody the world's priorities rather than Kingdom priorities infect our thinking, which ultimately infects our heart.  For...

30 Mar

Posted at 05:30h in Integriosity Blog by

We believe words are important and powerful.  The culture of the world is filled with words that blind us to God’s purpose for work--words that reinforce work as a burden to be avoided rather than a blessing of God's creation.  Disordered words that embody the world's priorities rather than Kingdom priorities infect our thinking, which ultimately infects our heart.  For...

23 Mar

Posted at 05:30h in Integriosity Blog by

For a leader seeking to lead an organization to faithfully “do right” through business a better way, or a person seeking to "work" in alignment with Biblical beliefs, values and priorities, WORDS MATTER.  We believe words are important and powerful.  The culture of the world is filled with words that blind us to God’s purpose for work and business.  Even...

22 Mar

Posted at 05:30h in Integrous News by

Integrous Founder Paul Michalski was the guest speaker at the monthly Toolbox Ministries-Galleria lunch held on March 9, 2022 at The Houston Racquet Club in Houston, Texas.    Paul's talk was titled The 7 Stages of My Journey To the Why of Work: Understanding the Intersection of Faith and Work....

16 Mar

Posted at 05:30h in Integriosity Blog by

For a leader seeking to lead an organization to faithfully “do right” through business a better way, eliminating organizational silos must be a priority. In this post, we look at “wisdom” and “information” silos. Organizational silos are bad for the leader, bad for the organization and bad for its culture, which makes it bad for the people in the...

02 Mar

Posted at 05:30h in Beautify the World, Glorify God, Humanize People, Integriosity Blog, Re-Align, Re-Imagine, Renew by

Profit is NOT bad.   In fact, we believe PROFIT IS NECESSARY for an organization (other than a non-profit organization) to be obedient to the Creation Mandate, because it is necessary for sustainability, for the flourishing of owners and to further the bigger "WHY" of the organization.  However, in order to faithfully "do right", an organization must put profit in the proper...

23 Feb

Posted at 05:30h in Integriosity Blog by

We believe investors of Biblical faith wanting to invest in alignment with Biblical beliefs, values and priorities need to think BIGGER in a new way--prioritizing "significance" over "size". If they don’t, they are at risk of undermining not only the faithfulness of their own investing but also the ability of faith-driven entrepreneurs and business leaders to run their businesses...

16 Feb

Posted at 05:30h in Integriosity Blog by

Once we understand that God's design is "work AS life" (work as a way to be more fully human and not something to be balanced against life), we need to understand how to balance "work WITHIN life". We believe Biblical priorities are pretty clear--faith, family and work, in that order. Unfortunately, business as usual and our culture exert...

09 Feb

Posted at 05:30h in Glorify God, Integriosity Blog by

We believe many people of Biblical faith pursue their career or do their job without any Biblical understanding of the WHY of work.  Their WHY for work is wrapped up in their needs and the grand plan for their kingdom.  In this post, we will explore three ways to view the WHY of work: live to work, work to live, and...

02 Feb

Posted at 05:30h in Beautify the World, Integriosity Blog by

In a recent post we looked at a seeming anomaly--a secular business that appears to be faithfully "doing right" through business a better way (i.e., business as God intended in accordance with Biblical beliefs, values and priorities) seemingly without being faith-driven.  In this post, we will highlight an example of what some cynics might say is an oxymoron--a law firm...

26 Jan

Posted at 05:30h in Glorify God, Integriosity Blog by

Recently, the CEO of BlackRock, Inc., Larry Fink, came out with his 2022 "letter to CEOs". In his 2022 letter, Fink focused on "stakeholder capitalism".  We thought it would helpful to compare stakeholder capitalism and what we call business a better way.  In many ways, they can look and feel the same, but they are not.  You will not be surprised...

19 Jan

Posted at 05:30h in Integriosity Blog by

In our last post we looked at why Biblically faith-based non-profits can have cultures that stray far from God's design for work--good work on the outside with unhappy people on the inside. In this post, we consider the other end of the spectrum--secular businesses that appear to be faithfully "doing right" through business a better way (i.e., business as...

12 Jan

Posted at 05:30h in Integriosity Blog by

In this post we look at some special "culture" challenges that can lead Biblically faith-based non-profits down a seemingly business as usual path. These organizations are born with "faith-work integration" but can have cultures that stray far from God's design for work--good work on the outside with unhappy people on the inside. People tolerate unhealthy cultures in faith-based...

05 Jan

Posted at 06:00h in Beautify the World, Glorify God, Humanize People, Integriosity Blog, Restore by

Over the last two years, we have laid out a model for moving toward what we call Integriosity®--faithfully "doing right" through business an better way.  It is time to pause, take a breath and look back over the last 101 posts. We believe these last 100 posts have honored our promise to you from post #001. Integrous is here to help...

29 Dec

Posted at 06:00h in Beautify the World, Glorify God, Humanize People, Integriosity Blog, Restore by

One bigger WHY of work and business is the "SO THAT" that gives the biggest WHY to every other WHY. RESTORE is the fourth and final step in the path of Integriosity.®  It is about seeing the bigger WHY's of work and business materialize and manifest in an organization that has been RE-IMAGINED and RE-ALIGNED with Biblical beliefs, values and...

22 Dec

Posted at 06:00h in Beautify the World, Integriosity Blog, Restore by

We believe beautiful was God's design when He created everything and declared it "very good", but business as usual and work as usual are often accompanied by an ugly cost to God's creation, including people.  RESTORE is the fourth and final step in the path of Integriosity.®  It is about seeing the bigger WHY's of work and business materialize and...

15 Dec

Posted at 05:30h in Humanize People, Integriosity Blog, Restore by

RESTORE is the fourth and final step in the path of Integriosity.®  It is about seeing the bigger WHY's of work and business materialize and manifest in an organization that has been RE-IMAGINED and RE-ALIGNED with Biblical beliefs, values and priorities based upon a RENEWED understanding of God's purpose for work and business.  One of those bigger WHY's is Humanizing...

08 Dec

Posted at 05:30h in Humanize People, Integriosity Blog, Restore by

RESTORE is the fourth and final step in the path of Integriosity.® It is about seeing the bigger WHY's of work and business materialize and manifest in an organization that has been RE-IMAGINED and RE-ALIGNED with Biblical beliefs, values and priorities based upon a RENEWED understanding of God's purpose for work and business. It is the narrow "ancient...

01 Dec

Posted at 05:30h in Humanize People, Integriosity Blog, Restore by

RESTORE is the fourth and final step in the path of Integriosity.® It is about seeing the bigger WHY's of work and business materialize and manifest in an organization that has been RE-IMAGINED and RE-ALIGNED with Biblical beliefs, values and priorities based upon a RENEWED understanding of God's purpose for work and business. It is the narrow "ancient...

24 Nov

Posted at 05:30h in Humanize People, Integriosity Blog, Restore by

RESTORE is the fourth and final step in the path of Integriosity.® It is about seeing the bigger WHY's of work and business materialize and manifest in an organization that has been RE-IMAGINED and RE-ALIGNED with Biblical beliefs, values and priorities based upon a RENEWED understanding of God's purpose for work and business. It is the narrow "ancient...

09 Nov

Posted at 20:00h in Integriosity Blog, Re-Align, Restore by

After building the essential bridge of a RENEWED mind that allows us to move from business as usual to business a better way, exploring how to use that RENEWED understanding to begin to RE-IMAGINE an organization in a way that leads to faithfully "doing right" through business a better way, and then actually implementing change by RE-ALIGNING the organization with...

03 Nov

Posted at 05:30h in Integriosity Blog, Re-Align by

The process of Integriosity® should not (actually, cannot) be rushed.  The first step of RENEW is not about knowledge--it is about "mind-shifts" that lead to "heart-change" that leads to "culture-change", and heart-change and culture-change usually doesn't happen overnight.  The second step of RE-IMAGINE--prayerfully dreaming up a Re-Imagined Purpose, Re-Imagined Values and a Re-Imagined Culture that align with Biblical beliefs, values and...