Keep First Things First Tag

24 May

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

ESSENCE:  Integrity Ideas are specific actions a faithful leader can consider in leading faithfully through business a better way.INTEGRITY IDEA: Optimize CompensationCOVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action):  PracticesCOVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt):  Highly CovertSTAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees, Customers/Clients, Owners, Community, KingdomMost Integrity Ideas are practical actions toward implementing a bigger WHY for the organization.  "Optimize Compensation"...

17 May

Posted at 05:30h in "Leading Faithfully" Basics, Integriosity Blog by

Organizational cultures that are broken through the toxic assumptions and motivations of business as usual lead to "work" in those cultures becoming something far from God's good and life-giving design in Genesis. There are four key aspects of toxic work as usual that flow from the attributes of business as usual: Idol and Identity; Money and Power; A Burden; and Unhealthy...

10 May

Posted at 05:30h in Integriosity Blog by

Understanding the challenge of leading faithfully through business a better way and the existential threat of AI both require understanding "priorities". Implementing business a better way in an organization requires recognizing the nature of priorities as well as common "priority problems", assessing the real "priorities" in an organizational culture, identifying and implementing priorities that align with business in accordance with...

01 Mar

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

ESSENCE:  Integrity Ideas are specific actions a faithful leader can consider in leading faithfully through business a better way.INTEGRITY IDEA: Buy TicketsCOVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action):  PracticesCOVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt):  OvertSTAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees, Customers, Suppliers/Vendors, Community, KingdomMost Integrity Ideas are practical actions toward implementing a bigger WHY for the organization.  "Buy Tickets" is...

22 Feb

Posted at 05:30h in "Leading Faithfully" Basics, Integriosity Blog by

Leading faithfully through business a better way is a journey. Leading an organization in alignment with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities requires finding the on-ramp, getting on, and then not stumbling off an ancient road of Jeremiah 6:16. We have developed a four-step process called Integriosity® to help a faithful leader navigate the journey, each of which...

15 Feb

Posted at 05:30h in "Leading Faithfully" Basics, Integriosity Blog by

Are you on the path that leads to where you want to go? Every faithful leader is on a path of some sort, but leading faithfully requires getting on, and staying on, the right path. There are really two main paths--business in alignment with the kingdom of the world and the ancient path of business in alignment with the...

11 Jan

Posted at 05:30h in Integriosity Blog by

As faithful leaders enter 2023, we want to share the four "first things" to "keep first" in leading faithfully--they are actually captured by the word Integriosity itself.   In our last post, we described the first two.  In this PART 2, we will describe the second two.  A key element of the RENEW step of Integriosity is re-ordering disordered priorities, because...

04 Jan

Posted at 05:30h in Integriosity Blog by

As faithful leaders enter 2023, we want to share the four "first things" to "keep first" in leading faithfully--they are actually captured by the word Integriosity itself.   In this PART 1, we will describe the first two.  In our next post we will cover the second two. A key element of the RENEW step of Integriosity is re-ordering disordered priorities,...

07 Dec

Posted at 05:30h in Integriosity Blog by

Hopefully, Thanksgiving is still recent enough to offer a silly analogy. If Thanksgiving was your business, what would "profit" represent in the Thanksgiving preparation and meal?  Remember, 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 the...

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...

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...

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...

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...

28 Apr

Posted at 05:00h in Integriosity Blog, Re-Align, Re-Imagine, Renew by

A leader can't align the purpose and vision of an organization with God's purpose for work and business until that leader has a sound understanding of work and business from a Biblical perspective, which is the purpose of the RENEW step of Integriosity®.  Until an organization's leader(s) is ready to abandon business as usual thinking and adopt business a better way thinking, the second step...

21 Apr

Posted at 05:00h in Integriosity Blog, Re-Align, Re-Imagine, Renew by

A key element of the RENEW step of Integriosity® is re-ordering disordered priorities by looking at Biblical principles for work and business. It is important to go back to first principles by asking what the Bible tells us are the keys to everything else. The key Biblical principles that form the foundation of Integriosity are embedded in the word...

14 Apr

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

The last of the four first principles embedded in Integriosity® is Humility, and, in addition to being the key to understanding the "HOW" of the other three "first things" (Righteousness, Love and Kingdom), it is a key to Wisdom.  Pride, on the other hand, can keep the leader of an organization in an information and wisdom silo.   Humility by a leader can lead to...

07 Apr

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

The last of the four first principles embedded in Integriosity® is Humility, and it is the key to understanding the "HOW" of the other three "first things", including Kingdom.  Humility in pursuing the Kingdom flows from knowing who we are in relation to God--it means recognizing the "smallness of our greatness" and returning to the childlike qualities of dependence and trust on God in making...

31 Mar

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

The last of the four first principles embedded in Integriosity® is Humility, and it is the key to understanding the "HOW" of the other three "first things", including Love.  Humility in Loving Others flows from knowing who we are in relation to other people. By embracing Imago Dei, Humility leads us to treat others with dignity, respect and kindness because of WHO they are.  Humility also...

24 Mar

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

The last of the four first principles embedded in Integriosity® is Humility, and it is the key to understanding the "HOW" of the other three "first things", including Righteousness.  Humility in Righteousness flows from knowing who we are in relation to God's creation and His plan.  In fact, living sacrificially--a key to Righteousness--is not possible without Humility.  In order to lead an organization in a way that sacrificially...

16 Mar

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

The last of the four first principles embedded in Integriosity® is Humility, and it is the key to understanding the "HOW" of the other three "first things"--Righteousness, Love and Kingdom--and it is a key to Wisdom.  In fact, we believe leadership without Humility is antithetical to leading an organization to faithfully "do right".  Humility is knowing who you are in relation to God's creation and His plan,...

08 Mar

Posted at 14:00h 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...

03 Mar

Posted at 05:00h in Beautify the World, Glorify God, Humanize People, Integriosity Blog, Re-Imagine, Renew, Restore by

Love is the first "Generosity Priority" embedded in Integriosity®, and we have seen how the generosity and service aspects of Love lead us to the purpose of work and business (maximize flourishing by Humanizing, Beautifying, Glorifying), but there are also respect and sustainability aspects of Love that are inherent in the Creation Mandate. Biblical sustainability is about faithfully "doing right" by caring for all God's creation as its STEWARDS.  It is motivated by obedience to the Creation Mandate--not by fear...

24 Feb

Posted at 05:00h in Beautify the World, Glorify God, Humanize People, Integriosity Blog, Renew, Restore by

Putting together the puzzle pieces of the last several posts, we see that the first principle of Love leads us to the same purpose for business as emerged from the first principle of Kingdom--the BIGGER purpose of work and business is to HUMANIZE people, BEAUTIFY the world and GLORIFY God by serving internally and externally in a way that maximizes the...

17 Feb

Posted at 05:00h in Integriosity Blog, Renew, Restore by

An organization is a merely a collection of people working together toward a common purpose. As such, it derives its purpose from their purpose. Organizations such as businesses have intrinsic Kingdom value because they are a creation of God's image-bearers that provides the platform and the opportunity for humans to come together in relationship to express and fulfill their...

08 Feb

Posted at 13:15h in Beautify the World, Glorify God, Humanize People, Integriosity Blog, Renew, Restore by

The nature of work in God's design is that it is how we use our skills to obey His commandments through SERVICE.  People are more fully human when they are working in alignment with God's purpose for work--a vehicle for living out the Creation Mandate and the great commandments to love God and love each other. Embedding the Biblical principle of work as service in the culture and...

03 Feb

Posted at 06:30h in Beautify the World, Glorify God, Humanize People, Integriosity Blog, Renew, Restore by

Being created in the image of God is not just a great t-shirt slogan--it has important implications for how we live and what we need in order to be fully human. Embedding the Biblical principle of love your neighbor in the culture and heart of an organization is essential to faithfully "doing right", because it is essential in order...

27 Jan

Posted at 06:30h in Beautify the World, Glorify God, Humanize People, Integriosity Blog, Renew, Restore by

Keep First Things First means going back to Biblical first principles, and one of the four principles embedded in the word Integriosity® is the "Generosity Priority" of LOVE. "All the Law and the Prophets" depend on the commandments to love God and love your neighbor, which makes understanding love your neighbor in an organizational context essential to faithfully "doing...

20 Jan

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

The book-ends of a BIGGER GOSPEL reveal the purpose and relevance of work and organizations in God's grand plan and an even greater purpose for Redemption through Jesus. Creation and Restoration teach us that humans need work and organizations to be "fully human"; work and organizations have intrinsic Kingdom value; work and organizations can glorify God; and a purpose...

13 Jan

Posted at 08:30h in Beautify the World, Glorify God, Humanize People, Integriosity Blog, Renew, Restore by

For a leader to lead an organization to faithfully "do right", they must recognize that what they believe about "where we are going someday" profoundly impacts "how we act today". God's restoration plan for His Kingdom means work and business have relevance in God's grand design and eternal significance. A BIGGER GOSPEL reveals that we have the...

06 Jan

Posted at 06:30h in Beautify the World, Glorify God, Humanize People, Integriosity Blog, Renew, Restore by

For a leader to lead an organization to faithfully "do right", they must recognize that what they believe about "where we are going someday" profoundly impacts "how we act today". A Restoration understanding of heaven means the "very good" creation that left plenty of room for our creative and productive cultivation will finally be perfected as a refined...

30 Dec

Posted at 06:30h in Beautify the World, Glorify God, Humanize People, Integriosity Blog, Renew by

For a leader to lead an organization to faithfully "do right", they must look to Creation to understand the necessity of work to God's plan for His creation. The world was actually created to need our creativity and productivity in order to flourish. A BIGGER GOSPEL reveals that creation needs human work to unleash its potential (and...

23 Dec

Posted at 09:25h in Beautify the World, Glorify God, Humanize People, Integriosity Blog, Renew by

For a leader to lead an organization to faithfully "do right", they must look to Creation to understand the importance of work to the humanity of those they lead. God created work for humanity as a GOOD THING before the Fall, and people are more “fully human” when engaged in meaningful work that unleashes their God-given productivity and creativity....

16 Dec

Posted at 06:45h in Beautify the World, Glorify God, Humanize People, Integriosity Blog, Renew by

A leader can't lead an organization to faithfully "do right" without understanding and embracing a BIGGER GOSPEL, because without going back to Creation, we can't understand Who We Are, and more importantly, we can't understand Who Other People Are.  It is only when we understand the implications of God creating humans in His image that we can begin to understand...

09 Dec

Posted at 09:45h in Beautify the World, Glorify God, Humanize People, Integriosity Blog, Renew by

It is impossible to understand God's purpose for work or business without looking at Genesis and understanding the Creation Mandate (a commandment about our purpose on earth), God's love for all creation and our role as its stewards. As stewards, we have global responsibility to use our God-given creativity and productivity to cultivate God’s creation in order to enable...

02 Dec

Posted at 09:45h in Integriosity Blog, Renew by

Many faith-driven leaders are operating out of a narrow and incomplete vision of God's story--missing the beginning and end of a grand four-part narrative (Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration).  Because the purpose and relevance of work and business are found in Creation and Restoration, we do not believe a leader can lead an organization to faithfully "do right" without understanding and...

25 Nov

Posted at 09:45h in Integriosity Blog, Renew by

Faithfully "doing right" is more than "doing good"--it means "doing right" by God, and that means "living generously through loving others and stewarding creation".  There are many organizations that promote "giving generously", but what does it mean to "live generously"?  It requires "vertically integrating" generosity and living sacrificially....

18 Nov

Posted at 09:45h in Integriosity Blog, Renew by

Faithfully "doing right" with integrity needs a WHY, and the WHY of faithfully "doing right" needs to have integrity in the form of "authenticity" (with authenticity having four components: identity, sincerity, consistency and transparency).  In other words, the organization's WHY must be more than a pretty sign on the wall--it's WHY must be at the heart of its culture. ...

04 Nov

Posted at 15:15h in Integriosity Blog, Renew by

Faithfully "doing right" is much more than "doing good" or being ethical. The key to understanding faithfully "doing right" is recognizing that "doing right" needs an object--by whom are we to "do right". We believe a faith-driven leader is called to "do right" by God, and that means living generously by loving others and stewarding creation. ...

21 Oct

Posted at 09:45h in Integriosity Blog, Renew by

A key element of the RENEW step of Integriosity is re-ordering disordered priorities. It is important to go back to first principles by asking what the Bible tells us are the keys to everything else. And then we have to "Keep First Things First" by pursuing those first principles and not the “everything else”! Having an agenda...