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: Harness Parking Power

For organizations that provide parking, “Harness Parking Power” is about a faithful leader prayerfully discerning ways to use choice spots to recognize, honor, reward, or support stakeholders.

It is not about saving the best spaces for the most senior staff, as is sadly common in both corporations and churches. Nor is it about virtue signaling by designating preferred spots for those with energy-efficient or electric vehicles.

Integrity Ideas are practical actions toward implementing a bigger WHY for the organization.  Some are helpful ideas to consider as a faithful leader prayerfully discerns the best stewardship of the organization. Others may be important steps in the RENEW/RE-ALIGN/RE-IMAGINE/RESTORE process.

“Harness Parking Power” is in the “if it fits” category because its implementation will depend upon whether the organization provides parking and the nature of the stakeholders for whom parking is provided. For an organization that does provide parking, “Harness Parking Power” is an inexpensive way to recognize, honor, reward, and support stakeholders.

The Power of Parking

The greatest power in parking comes through the allocation of the most convenient spots. Parking spots closer to the entrance of a venue are generally seen as premium spots. As one quote often attributed to Don King puts it, “Only in America will you see people circling the parking lot looking for a close space at a gym.”

How an organization treats those spots often reveals what the organization truly values. The best spaces can be used to honor status, monetize convenience, signal virtue, or serve people. The law recognizes the power of convenient parking by requiring accessible spaces for those with disabilities.

Business as usual—business in the way of the kingdom of the world—frequently uses parking for status or profit.  For example:

• Businesses often label and reserve the best spots for senior executives.

• Entertainment venues such as sports stadiums, concert venues, and theme parks designate the best parking for those who have paid for premium tickets or who are willing to pay a premium for parking.

• Some airports charge substantial premiums for parking close to terminals.

• Office buildings, private clubs, hotels, hospitals, universities, and apartment buildings may quietly sort people by title, tier, wealth, membership level, or willingness to pay for convenience.

Worldly businesses also use the allocation of choice parking to signal support of cultural movements. For example, the “climate change” movement led to many businesses saving premium parking spots for electric or energy-efficient vehicles or for carpoolers, even if the environmental stewardship was not a core value of the organization.  While for some it genuinely reflected deeply-held beliefs, we suspect that for most it was more about enhancing the organization’s reputation (or preventing damage to its reputation) in a cultural moment.

Sadly (in our view), many churches ignore Biblical teaching on humility and mimic business as usual practices in allocating the best parking for their staff.  Several passages suggest that staff spaces—or at least the spaces for the spiritual leaders—should be in the back of the lot. (You can watch a very funny video highlighting this at the end of the post.)

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. (Luke 14:11)

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:3-4)

Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. (Romans 12:10)

But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. (Mark 10:44)

Business as usual practices also use the power of parking to recognize loyal or prospective customers, or to create convenience for special business situations.

• Businesses that provide employee parking reserve prime spots for visitors.

• Hotel chains sometimes designate choice parking for those in the highest tiers of their loyalty systems.

• Some restaurants and even drug stores reserve spaces for those picking up mobile orders.

• Churches may designate spots for first-time visitors.

A parking space is a small thing, but in organizational culture small things often speak loudly.

Harnessing Parking Power to Love and Serve

For a faithful leader seeking to lead with faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing, the allocation of premium parking spaces holds the potential to reinforce Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities and increase the flourishing of the organization’s stakeholders. The power is not in the parking spot itself but in the way a visible privilege can reinforce either business as usual or business a better way.

Saving the best spots for recognizing, honoring, rewarding, or supporting stakeholders rather than for senior staff reflects and reinforces an organizational culture of humility. It is one practical and inexpensive way to lead faithfully by curating and reinforcing a caring and compassionate organizational culture that prioritizes relationships, community, human dignity and flourishing in alignment with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities.

It might look like using a premium space to express gratitude to an employee who has exemplified the organization’s values, to honor a customer or client who has served the community, to welcome a first-time visitor, to support a person with a temporary physical need, or to raise funds for a community nonprofit organization.

For the person allocated the spot, whether for a day, a week, a month, a year, or indefinitely, it says “we see you.”  We see your loyalty, or your effort, or your selflessness, or your accomplishment, or your need. To enhance flourishing, we believe “Harness Parking Power” must not be about recognizing hierarchical status or about Profit as Purpose.

At its best, “Harness Parking Power” is not merely about parking. It is about using a small, visible, ordinary organizational asset to communicate gratitude, humility, attention, and care.

CONTINUUM: Practices

The Integriosity model organizes “heart change” along six Covert-Overt Continuums.  There is nothing inherently 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.

“Harness Parking Power” is on the Practices Continuum. It involves practices the organization can adopt to recognize, honor, reward, or support stakeholders.

COVERT-OVERT RATING: Highly Covert

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 have one place on the scale.  Some can vary depending on how they are implemented.  We identify “Harness Parking Power” as Highly Covert (an action that would be taken by a secular company), because every organization should be interested in recognizing, honoring, rewarding, or supporting stakeholders.

It can be moved toward the Overt end of the Continuum by, for example, being overt about the Biblical reasons for not saving the best spots for senior staff, as well as the Biblical reasons for the gratitude, recognition, or support for which the spots are used.

STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees, Customers/Clients, Suppliers/Vendors, Community

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.

“Harness Parking Power” can be used to recognize, honor, reward, or support almost any stakeholder, including the Community.

IMPLEMENTATION

Implementing “Harness Parking Power” will depend on the nature of the organization and its stakeholders as well as the type of parking it provides and for whom. The possibilities for recognizing, honoring, rewarding, or supporting stakeholders are limited only by the prayerful imagination of a faithful leader and the Renewed Purpose and Renewed Values of the organization. It is seeing parking as an asset to be faithfully stewarded to help maximize Biblical flourishing.

We will consider some ideas in four general areas—recognizing a need, honoring an achievement or sacrifice, rewarding an accomplishment, or supporting an effort.

Recognizing

“Recognizing” someone with choice parking is recognizing a human need that often goes “unseen.” For example, an employee or customer might have a temporary disability or challenge that does not qualify them to use accessible parking but still makes walking a challenge.  Perhaps it is recent surgery or an injury, or even pregnancy or advanced age. It might be a customer with small children, a visitor carrying heavy materials, a person undergoing medical treatment, or a grieving family member arriving for a difficult meeting.

A choice spot might be labeled permanently and generically for such situations, or could be labeled with the person’s name while the need continued if the person welcomed that visibility.

Implementing such a program on a case-by-case basis would require putting in place a process for needs to be recognized, evaluated, and monitored.  What need will be covered? How can people apply?  Will there be a time limit? Who will determine if a space will be allocated?

Delivery people or employees carrying heavy packages might welcome a close space to park temporarily. Employees arriving or leaving when it is dark might feel “seen” by the designation of well-lit spaces in a safe area if security is a concern.

Honoring

Choice parking can also be used to honor achievements, efforts, or sacrifices by employees, customers, or community members. A recent and inspiring example is an announcement by Sean Kouplen, Chairman and CEO of Regent Bank, that Regent Bank locations would reserve two choice parking spots for veterans and first responders. Kouplen was inspired by seeing such a designation at the Tulsa, OK, airport.

Some examples of people who could be honored with a designated parking space:

• Generically with a standing space, veterans, first responders, teachers, nurses, social workers, foster parents, or others whose work reflects service and sacrifice.

• Generically with a standing space, pastors and priests when they are being served by another organization, rather than in the parking lot of their own church.

• For a specified period, the local high school valedictorian.

• For a specified period, students, volunteers, or community members recognized for unusual acts of service, courage, generosity, or compassion.

• The organization’s “employee of the month.”

• For a specified period, an employee recognized for exemplifying the organization’s values.

• For a specified period, an employee who reaches an employment milestone in years of service to the organization.

Rewarding

Although “rewarding” and “honoring” tend to blend together, “rewarding” opens up the possibility of using the parking space as the honor itself rather than to recognize another honor.  For example, if someone stands out for a way they loved or cared for a customer or a fellow employee, or a way they otherwise exemplified the organization’s mission or values, they could be recognized through a labeled spot for some period.

It might also be that an employee brought in an important account or led an important initiative or has been the type of “supporter” we celebrated in post # 298 (Integrity Idea 085: Support the Supporter).  A faithful leader prayerfully considering such a use of choice spots needs to consider how accomplishments will be identified and evaluated, and how they will be announced to the organization. Using parking spaces to “reward” behavior that strengthens the culture can itself strengthen the culture.

A faithful leader should also be careful that “rewarding” does not quietly exalt sales, status, or production in a way that creates a “real” culture at odds with the organization’s Re-Imagined Culture. The better use is to reward behaviors that reflect and reinforce the organization’s Re-Imagined Culture—particularly behaviors that are easy to overlook because they are humble, relational, sacrificial, or behind the scenes.

Supporting

For a non-profit, parking spaces could also be used to support the mission of the organization, and a business can use choice spaces to support local community programs. For example, the King School in Stamford, CT, would auction a few spots each year in a parent fundraiser.  The winning family would have a designated spot for the school year.

A retail business could offer a spot to be auctioned in support of a local charity, with the winner having a named parking spot for a specified period.

An entire parking lot or a section of a parking lot could be used to support community organizations by, for example, providing parking for volunteers serving at an event, providing a space for nonprofit partners to distribute donated goods (such as turkeys at Thanksgiving), providing space for a student car wash, or parking for emergency vehicles and repair crews following a storm or disaster event.

A business might also make its lot available after hours for a community blood drive, mobile health clinic, church outreach, food distribution, disaster-relief staging area, shuttle pickup, or charity run.  The possibilities are endless.

Like all assets of an organization pursuing faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing, prime parking spaces and parking lots are assets that belong to God—assets entrusted to faithful leaders to be stewarded faithfully and prayerfully to Humanize People, Beautify the World and Glorify God.

PERSONAL NOTE (from PM): This post was inspired by reading Sean Kouplen’s LinkedIn post about reserving two spots at Regent Bank branches for veterans and first responders.  Marrying into a Navy family and serving on the Board of GY6 Initiative have given me a deep respect and appreciation for our military, our veterans and our first responders.

Two things have been parking pet peeves for me.  The first is seeing churches reserve all the closest spots for staff.  The second is seeing able-bodied people park in handicap spots with a handicap placard and then get out to join me in a CrossFit class or head to the ski slopes.

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

INTEGRITY IDEA: Harness Parking Power

For organizations that provide parking, “Harness Parking Power” is about a faithful leader prayerfully discerning ways to use choice spots to recognize, honor, reward, or support stakeholders. It is not about saving the best spaces for the most senior staff, as is sadly common in both corporations and churches. Nor is it about virtue signaling by designating preferred spots for those with energy efficient or electric vehicles. “Harness Parking Power” might mean using a premium space to express gratitude to an employee who has exemplified the organization’s values, to honor a customer or client who has served the community, to welcome a first-time visitor, to support a person with a temporary physical need, or to raise funds for a community nonprofit organization. A parking space is a small thing, but in organizational culture small things often speak loudly.  Saving the best spots for recognizing, honoring, rewarding, or supporting stakeholders rather than for senior staff reflects and reinforces an organizational culture of humility. It is one practical and inexpensive way to lead faithfully by curating and reinforcing a caring and compassionate organizational culture that prioritizes relationships, community, human dignity and flourishing in alignment with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities. 

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, Community

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Photo credit: Original image by Sean Kouplen
(photo retouched by Gemini and cropped)