What's your noun (no, not your "pronouns")? We’re talking about the word that describes your primary identity--the identity you will protect at the expense of all other secondary identities. Secondary identities often show up as adjectives that give extra color to how you live out your noun. The culture of the world is filled with words and phrases that blind...
The Faith Driven Entrepreneur blog featured an article by Integrous Founder Paul Michalski. The title of the article is "Is Jesus Just Your Adjective?: The Problem with "Christian Entrepreneurs."...
As businesspeople or investors of faith, we face a choice much like Neo’s in the film The Matrix—two starkly different options with profound implications. The blue pill is business as usual — business in "the way of the world" or, more precisely, according to "the kingdom of this world." The red pill we call business a better way — business...
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 the Unhirable. COVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action): PracticeCOVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): Highly CovertSTAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees, Community, Kingdom"Hire the Unhirable" is about...
Does faith/work integration require Overtly faithful practices? Leading an organization faithfully through business a better way in alignment with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities, requires a continual prayerful balancing of the call to be Courageous through Overtness and the need to be Wise through Covertness. Both the idolization of Overtness and the fear of being Overt may lead to poor...
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: Celebrate ImpactCOVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action): PracticeCOVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): Highly CovertSTAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees, Customers/ClientsMost Integrity Ideas are practical actions...
Business has the potential to beautify the world--or uglify it. “Beautiful” was clearly God's design when he created everything and declared it "very good", and “beautiful” is the word that comes to mind as you read the description of the New Jerusalem that is coming--God's Kingdom on earth. In between the beauty of a garden and the beauty of a...
The Faith Driven Entrepreneur blog featured an article by Integrous Founder Paul Michalski. The title of the article is "Does Your Business Beautify or Uglify: The Call To Create With Beauty."...
There are two basic choices when a faithful leader who has faithfully shaped the purpose, values and culture of an organization no longer wants, or is no longer able, to continue to lead the organization—succession or secession . But we are not talking about who fills the leader’s seat—we are talking about what happens to the HEART of the...
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: Culture Coordinator COVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action): Practice COVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): Highly Covert STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees,...
The new viral concept of Quiet Quitting is about doing just enough at work to get by--minimizing "work" in order to maximize "life". We believe Quiet Quitting is "unhuman" and a consequence of business as usual. God made us to flourish through work, and we are less fully human when not reflecting our God-given creativity and productivity through work that...
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: Intercessory PrayerCOVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action): PrayerCOVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): Very CovertSTAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees, Customers/Clients, Owners, Suppliers/Vendors, Community, KingdomMost Integrity Ideas...
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: Group PrayerCOVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action): PrayerCOVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): CovertSTAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees, Customers/Clients, Owners, Suppliers/Vendors, Community, KingdomMost Integrity Ideas are...
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: Personal PrayerCOVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action): PrayerCOVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): Very CovertSTAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees, Customers/Clients, Owners, Suppliers/Vendors, Community, KingdomMost Integrity Ideas...
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: Provide Humanity ResourcesCOVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action): Proclamation and PracticesCOVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): OvertSTAKEHOLDERS SERVED: EmployeesMost Integrity Ideas are practical actions...
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 FundCOVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action): PracticesCOVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): Highly CovertSTAKEHOLDERS SERVED: EmployeesMost Integrity Ideas are practical actions...
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 ERGCOVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action): PeopleCOVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): Highly CovertSTAKEHOLDERS SERVED: EmployeesMost Integrity Ideas are practical actions that...
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 TodayCOVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action): PracticesCOVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): Highly CovertSTAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees, Customers/Clients, Suppliers/VendorsMost Integrity Ideas are practical actions...
Integrous Founder Paul Michalski was interviewed by Chad Burmeister on his Living A Better Story podcast. The episode was released on July 9, 2022 and the topic was "Moments of Realization"....
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 PurposeCOVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action): ProclamationCOVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): Highly Covert or Highly OvertSTAKEHOLDERS SERVED: KingdomMost Integrity...
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): ...
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...
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...
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...
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...
The Faith Driven Entrepreneur blog featured an article by Integrous Founder Paul Michalski. The title of the article is "Why" in Deed: The Path to a Ministry OF Work....
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...
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...
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...
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...
“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...
The Faith Driven Entrepreneur blog featured an article by Integrous Founder Paul Michalski. The title of the article is "Whose 'Will' Be Done?"...
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...
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...
Integrous is proud to be providing integrity advice and counsel for His Story, The Musical, a new Broadway musical in development about the life of Jesus....
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...
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...
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...
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....
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...
For a leader seeking to lead an organization to faithfully “do right” through business a better way or an investor seeking to invest in alignment with Biblical beliefs, values and priorities, eliminating personal silos must be a priority. In this post, we look at personal faith and wealth silos. The secular "world" view of faith and work is that...
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...
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...
The Faith Driven Investor blog featured an article by Integrous Founder Paul Michalski. The title of the article is “Is It Time for BIGGER Returns?”...
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...
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...
The Faith Driven Entrepreneur blog featured an article by Integrous Founder Paul Michalski. The title of the article is "Work to Live, Live to Work, or Work as Life?"...