Integrity Ideas are practical actions toward implementing a bigger WHY for the organization.  We believe some are critical (and necessary) steps in the RENEW/RE-ALIGN/RE-IMAGINE/RESTORE process.  Others are just ideas to be considered if they feel like a good fit based on what leaders prayerfully discern is best for stewarding the organization toward its WHY.

“Climb a Hill” falls into the “if it fits” category because it is a highly overt expression of faith that is not central to the pursuit of faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing.

Integrity Ideas are 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.  You can find more Integrity Ideas at Integrous | Integrity Ideas (integriosity.com)

INTEGRITY IDEA: Climb a Hill

“Climb a Hill” is about faithful leaders accepting, seeking and even creating opportunities to share publicly about their organization’s pursuit of faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing.

It is based on the Biblical proclamation in Matthew 5:14 that “a city set on a hill cannot be hidden“, the Biblical call in Matthew 5:16 to “let your light shine before others“, and the Biblical principle in Proverbs 27:17 that “iron sharpens iron.”

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16)

Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)

“Climb a Hill” recognizes that faithful leaders are operating in an increasingly secular culture and sharing “best practices” and stories of transformation can serve to encourage and equip other faithful leaders in their efforts to lead with faithful integrity.  It is not about implementing overt practices but being overt about the practices being implemented and the bigger WHY behind them, wherever they are on the Covert-Overt Continuums.

It may also awaken what pastor and theologian Tim Keller called the “first order beliefs” written on the hearts of secular leaders and inspire leadership in alignment with principles such as the Golden Rule.  Keller points out in his book Every Good Endeavor:

People have innate consciences that are preloaded with senses of honesty, justice, love, the Golden Rule, and so on. . . . This universal knowledge of God and of good—this aspect of natural revelation—has been called “first-order beliefs.” All people hold these beliefs at some level, even if their conscious, intellectual, culturally conditioned “second-order beliefs” deny them utterly.

When a faithful leader boldly proclaims initiatives that their organization has implemented in order to operate with faithful integrity in alignment with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities, and shares how those initiatives have Humanized People, Beautified the World and Glorified God, it is like tossing the proverbial stone into a pond, creating ripples that can change the broader culture.  The ripple-effect of such a courageous action has been described eloquently by various luminaries:

I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples. (Mother Theresa)

Just as ripples spread out when a single pebble is dropped into water, the actions of individuals can have far-reaching effects. (Dalai Lama)

It is from the numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal or acts to improve the lot of others or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance. (Robert Kennedy)

In an earlier post (#104–Business a Better Way “Without Faith”), we showcased the accomplishments of one secular organization founded on a Biblical principle.  The secular company SAS Institute has often been named one of the best places to work, and in 2019 it was honored as one of the top 10 places to work in the world. Whether or not he made the connection, founder Dr. Jim Goodnight built the culture of SAS by applying a simple but powerful Biblical principle–the “Golden Rule” of Matthew 7:12.

CONTINUUM: Proclamation

The Integriosity model organizes “heart change” along six Covert-Overt Continuums.  There is nothing magic about these categories, but we believe they are helpful in thinking about practical execution of a Re-Imagined Purpose, Re-Imagined Values and a Re-Imagined Culture.  The Continuums are Prayer, Proclamation, Policies, Practices, Products, People.

Each Continuum represents an area in which leaders can begin to think about, plan and institute Re-Alignment changes to the heart of the organization.

“Climb a Hill” is on the Proclamation Continuum. It is about a faithful leader publicly sharing the initiatives their organization has implemented in order to pursue business a better way toward Biblical flourishing and the bigger WHYs of Humanizing People, Beautifying the World and Glorifying God.

COVERT-OVERT RATING: Highly Overt

The Integriosity model breaks the Covert-Overt Continuums into six gradations–from Highly Covert to Highly Overt–that we believe are helpful in beginning to pray and think about what is most appropriate for an organization at a particular moment in time.

Most Integrity Ideas will have one place on the scale.  Some can vary depending on how they are implemented.  “Climb a Hill” is Highly Overt (An overtly faith-based action involving community, website, sales/marketing materials) because it involves publicly proclaiming the pursuit of faithful integrity.

STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Kingdom

When we categorize faith-based actions, we also consider the stakeholders principally impacted by the action: Employees, Customers/Clients, Owners, Suppliers/Vendors, Community and Kingdom.

“Climb a Hill” serves the Kingdom.  It is about a faithful leader letting their organization’s “light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

IMPLEMENTATION

“Climb a Hill” can take many forms, but the essential element is a faithful leader willing to be intentional and bold about sharing not only how and why they are pursuing faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing, but also fruit.  It is sharing what has happened in the RESTORE step of Integriosity^®.

As we described back in post #095 (Restore–The Fruit), the RESTORE step is really about seeing the bigger WHY’s of work and business materialize and manifest in an organization that has been RE-IMAGINED and RE-ALIGNED based upon a RENEWED understanding of God’s purpose for work and business. That fruit can be seen in People, in the Organization and in Work Relationships.  It is people Humanized, the world Beautified and God Glorified.

Preparing for the “Climb”

A faithful leader preparing to “Climb a Hill” needs to turn to what we described as two of the five key ingredients for executing a Re-Imagined Purpose, Re-Imagined Values and a Re-Imagined Culture in an organization:  Prayer and Trust in God.

Pray. A reminder to Pray is necessary because unfortunately many faith-driven leaders do not associate God with organizational decisions.  Oswald Chambers observed:

In spiritual issues it is customary for us to put God first, but we tend to think that it is inappropriate and unnecessary to put Him first in the practical, everyday issues of our lives.

Chambers warns “Don’t plan without God. . . . We get ourselves into circumstances that were not chosen by God, and suddenly we realize that we have been making our plans without Him—that we have not even considered Him to be a vital, living factor in the planning of our lives.”

If Chambers is not convincing enough, the Bible is full of guidance on the topic of leaders seeking (or failing to seek) God’s guidance.  Here are just a few:

But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward. (Jeremiah 7:24)

For the shepherds are stupid and do not inquire of the Lord; therefore they have not prospered, and all their flock is scattered. (Jeremiah 10:21)

And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. (Isaiah 30:21)

Prayer in the context of “Climb a Hill” is asking God for discernment as to what hills to climb, when to climb them, and how to climb them.  It is also asking God to provide hills to climb.

Trust.  In one of our most used quotes, James Hunter warns:  “To enact a vision of human flourishing based in the qualities of life that Jesus modeled will invariably challenge the given structures of the social order. In this light, there is no true leadership without putting at risk one’s time, wealth, reputation, and position.”

Resistance is certain when challenging “the given structures of the social order” in a fallen world.  The Bible warns that those following God’s commands will have trouble (John 16:33), be persecuted (Romans 12:14), suffer affliction (Romans 12:12), be accused of wrongdoing (1 Peter 2:12) and suffer unjustly (1 Peter 2:19).  Resistance may come from employees, customers, vendors, owners, regulators and communities.

While it may be possible to minimize the risk of worldly resistance by staying quiet and keeping a low profile about efforts to Glorify God through business, that is not the call of Matthew 5:16.  Being bold in sharing in public forums about those efforts requires trust in God. It is about doing the right thing, regardless of the personal cost.

Some Ways To “Climb a Hill”

While there are many ways for a leader to be intentional about accepting, seeking and even creating opportunities to “Climb a Hill”, here are a few ideas:

• Be a Mentor.  “Climb a Hill” might be mentoring a young faithful leader or a group of faithful leaders.  Mentoring opportunities can come through: pastoral referrals; faith-based fellowship groups such as the New Canaan Society (for men), 4Word (for women), Polished (for women) and Faith Driven Entrepreneur Foundation Groups; and accelerator programs for faithful entrepreneurs such as Praxis.

• Do a Podcast.  There are many podcasts about the integration of faith and work.  “Climb a Hill” might be accepting an invitation to be a podcast guest, seeking opportunities to be a podcast guest, or even creating a podcast.

• Give a Talk.  There are many conferences focused on inspiring faithful leaders to integrate faith and work.  For example, the annual Faith Driven Entrepreneur Conference, the annual Believers in Business Conference, the annual Christian Employers Alliance Summit, and the National ERG Faith@Work Conference.”Climb a Hill” might be a faithful leader accepting an invitation to be a speaker or simply attending a conference and praying that God would connect them with an attendee needing encouragement.  It could also be a faithful leader sharing their journey of faithful integrity with one of the many groups of faithful leaders that meet regularly around the country and feature guest speakers, such as: New Canaan Society chapters,  Legatus chapters, CBMC chapters, Polished chapters, and 4Word community groups,

• Write a Blog or Book.  Quite a few faithful leaders have written blogs or books to encourage and equip other faithful leaders.  For example, Leadership Not By the Book by David Green of Hobby Lobby, Leadership by the Good Book by David Steward, Loving Monday by John Beckett, and Dare to Serve by Cheryl Bachelder.

• Create a Hill.  While it is obviously easier to climb an existing hill, a faithful leader should be ready to create a new hill if that is where God leads in prayer.  One example of a “new hill” is the t-factor program created by Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated.  Through t-factor, Coca-Cola Consolidated invites faithful leaders from around the world to hear about how Coca-Cola Consolidated integrates Christian faith and its business.  It serves to both encourage and equip.

We believe there are many faithful leaders who sincerely want to lead with faithful integrity. We also believe every organizational leader has been created in the image of God and imprinted with “first order beliefs” longing to come to the surface.  “Climb a Hill” is about faithful leaders already on the journey to faithful integrity proclaiming from a hilltop what they have been doing to align the purpose, values and culture of their organization with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities.  It is not about whether the things they have been doing are covert or overt expressions of those beliefs, principles and priorities–it is about letting their “light shine before others, so that they may see [their] good works and give glory to [their] Father who is in heaven.”

PERSONAL NOTE (from PM):  This post was inspired most recently by my friend Mark Whitacre, the Vice President of Culture & Care at Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated.  Just in the past year, I have run into Mark in Washington, DC, Cambridge, MA, and Dallas, TX.  Each time, he has been “Climbing a Hill” to encourage and equip faithful leaders with the story of Coca-Cola Consolidated.

It has also been inspired by the many faithful leaders who have shared their stories of faith-work integration over the years at NCS New Canaan, the founding chapter of the New Canaan Society–leaders like John Beckett, Henry Kaestner, Frank Harrison, Ken Costa, William Pollard, Andy Mills, Andrew Aran and Mark Reitsma, Nate Fischer, Tom Mallon, Reginald Jones III, Tom Cole, Hal Rosser, Dean Harrington, Gauthier Vincent, Bill Blezard, Kevon Saber, Fred Sievert, Lawrence Sheffield, Britt Harris, David Block, Christopher Kay, Terry Botwick, Dennis Collins, Kevin O’Bryan, Michael Tremain, Dr. James Tour, Dr. David Young, Chief Don Anderson, Dan Haseltine, Will Haughey, Dr. John Robb, Nick DeMarco, Nick Medley, Sajan George, Mark Curtis, Michael Stallard, Greg Zehner, Scott Harrison, and many more.

ESSENCE:  Integrity Ideas are specific practical actions a faithful leader can consider in leading faithfully through business a better way.

INTEGRITY IDEA: Climb a Hill

COVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action):  Proclamation

COVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): Highly Overt

STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Kingdom

“Climb a Hill” is about faithful leaders accepting, seeking and even creating opportunities to share publicly about their organization’s pursuit of faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing.  It is based on the Biblical proclamation that “a city set on a hill cannot be hidden”, the Biblical call to “let your light shine before others”, and the Biblical principle that “iron sharpens iron.”  “Climb a Hill” recognizes that faithful leaders are operating in an increasingly secular culture and sharing “best practices” and stories of transformation can serve to encourage and equip other faithful leaders in their efforts to lead with faithful integrity.  It may also awaken the “first order beliefs” written on the hearts of secular leaders and inspire leadership in alignment with principles such as the Golden Rule.  “Climb a Hill” can be like tossing the proverbial stone into a pond, creating ripples that can change the broader culture.

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Photo credit: Original image by Alex Shute on Unsplash
(photo cropped)