by Mark West | Jun 15, 2016 | Action, Customers, Employees, Integrity, Leadership, Trust, Uncategorized
In life, there are choices we make and habits we form that either produce happiness and success or regret and failure. One such choice is whether to walk with integrity or not. And that choice begins in the smallest of decisions.
Recently, I had an interaction with a business owner that demonstrated this principle of integrity. My HVAC unit at our farmhouse had developed a water leak and while we attempted to fix the problem ourselves, it continued to leak. So I put a call into my HVAC contractor and the office manager, Nancy, setup an appointment for a service call. However, I suggested I would like to text a video of the leak to the owner, Kim, for him to review and Nancy encouraged me to do so. Within 5 minutes of texting the video of the leak, I received a call back with a suggestion from Kim on what I could try to perhaps solve the problem. With the help of our farm foreman, we tried what was suggested and, voila! The problem was fixed.
The response from Kim, the owner of the HVAC company, resulted in a couple hundred dollars of lost revenue. But that decision, while it may seem like a small thing, had the effect of growing his integrity in at least a couple of ways.
Employees
While employees are frequently encouraged to increase a company’s revenue, the decision by Kim served as an example to Nancy, his office manager, that there are things that trump revenue or profit. When Kim provided me with the solution to my problem over the phone, he elevated integrity over profit. He communicated to his employees that where you can provide a simple solution that requires little to no effort, then one should do so. Earning a buck is not the supreme or only goal. And so Nancy had that behavior modeled to her by her boss. Can there be any stronger way to teach a value than to live it?
Customers
When the solution that Kim provided to me over the phone worked, and he lost a service call in the process, I was convinced that Kim’s company was one that I could trust. Because Kim was willing to give up the service call revenue, and elevate integrity over profit, my confidence in his company skyrocketed. I knew that were he to do any additional work for me in the future, I could trust him without reservation. So his faithfulness in a small issue grew my trust exponentially.
What about you? Are you ever tempted to bypass integrity? Do you ever rationalize small, seemingly insignificant, compromises of truth or honesty? You’ve heard the saying, “Sow a thought and you reap an action, sow an action and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.”
Do you desire a destiny of happiness, success and fulfillment? It begins with integrity in the little things. Commit yourself today to doing so and not only will you be thankful you did, you’ll also be pleased with where you end up.
“He who walks with integrity walks securely…”
by Mark West | Jan 13, 2016 | Action, Courage, Flaws, Humility, Trust
Boom! As I sat staring out the window of our twin engine plane, I could hardly believe my eyes. The engine just feet from my window had exploded, with parts and fluids blowing through the cowling (cover) of the engine. The plane began to veer hard to the right and was losing altitude. I looked around at the other passengers, some of my closest friends and employees, and I saw a look of fear, concern and perhaps even panic by some. Could this really be happening to us?
But let me back up and start at the beginning. In the mid-1990’s my business partner and I had decided to purchase an airplane to get around to the properties we owned and managed in a more efficient manner. When we began discussing which plane to purchase we quickly determined it must be a twin engine plane, for the simple reason that if we were to ever lose one engine, we’d still have a second one with which to try to make a controlled landing.
We had purchased our plane, a Cessna 421B Golden Eagle, three years earlier from Burt Reynolds when he and his wife, Lonnie Anderson, were going through a divorce. There was no mistaking the plane due to its Florida State Seminoles colors, with the entire fuselage painted garnet and accentuated with gold arrows painted down the side.
On the day of our “incident” we had fully loaded our eight-passenger plane, including 2 pilots. Technically we only had seven people on board but we also had quite a bit of cargo. We took off from Chattanooga Lovell Field headed towards Birmingham and everyone was cutting up but looking forward to a productive day. We had just cleared Lookout Mountain when our right seat pilot turned around and blurted out, “Guys, we’ve got a problem and we’re going to have to cut off our right engine.”
No sooner had those words left his mouth than the engine exploded right next to me. Our two regular pilots, both close friends, began to deal with the repercussions of flying a maxed-out plane on one engine. As they turned the plane back towards Chattanooga they radioed our emergency situation to the Chattanooga tower. While the plane continued to fly on the one remaining engine, it was clear that we were not maintaining altitude. As I looked at the terrain below, it seemed to me that the obvious choice would be to simply land on any empty road below. But the pilots thought otherwise and as we returned to the airport we had just left 20 minutes earlier, we could see emergency vehicles lining the runway.
Thankfully, our two pilots did a masterful job of not only flying a wounded airplane back to base but they also touched the plane down as smoothly as if we had both engines functioning. Needless to say, the moment that our wheels touched the runway, all of us breathed a heavy sigh of relief and we openly thanked God for the safety He had offered to us that day.
Loading up our Cessna 421B Golden Eagle
The interesting part of this whole story though is that the engine that blew up had just been overhauled and had less than 33 hours on it. Over time, and following a lawsuit with the company that refurbished the engine, we were able to determine that the cause for the catastrophic engine failure was due to the re-installation of a questionable reconditioned cylinder. So, had things not turned out so well that day, seven lives might have been lost due to that flawed part.
Flaws. We see them in airplanes, automobiles, computers and pretty much anything that is man-made. It’s also not unusual to see public figures, whether religious, political or entertainment personalities, destroy their lives because of a “flaw” that was ignored.
But truthfully, when you and I look in the mirror, we also see a flawed person. Some flaws can be rather minor, not resulting in life-shattering consequences. Yet other flaws can cause catastrophic results in one’s life or the lives of those we love.
Recognition
If we are honest with ourselves, we typically know our own flaws, from the “little” ones to the big, ugly ones. We don’t really need someone to enlighten us about them. In fact, oftentimes these flaws have been with us for years. It might be that we have simply accepted the flaw because we just don’t know how to overcome or conquer it.
But here’s the reality. Sooner or later, that big ugly flaw will take you and me down. Just as our airplane’s engine revealed its flaw, our lives will sooner or later reveal ours to us and then to others. So the first step in addressing the flaws in our lives is to simply recognize they are there.
Iron Sharpens Iron
There is a passage in Proverbs that states, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” There are several conclusions we can derive from this passage but one is that we must invite other people into our lives. As we engage with them many of our rough edges can be honed and even eliminated. Clearly, we were not meant to be alone so it is critical that we walk through life with other trusted individuals who can be there for us as we need them. Two are better than one, and if you or I have a flaw that is simply overwhelming us, it’s critical that we enlist a trusted person to help us in addressing that flaw before we see our life crumbling around us.
Confess your faults
In addition to the idea of iron sharpening iron, there’s also another parallel principle that suggests that we should “confess our faults one to another.” As we acknowledge the faults we have in our lives and share them with others we trust, we create a system of accountability. And through that accountability as well as the prayers of our others, we find the healing that enables us to overcome the faults with which we struggle.
While the concepts we’ve addressed here can be deeply personal, we should not forget that our personal lives also influence our businesses and work environment. So those flaws that seem to be simply “personal” in nature will ultimately surface in a way that they can do serious damage to our businesses.
So now is the time to deal with that nagging fault that you know is there. Ignoring it will ultimately allow it to surface at the most inopportune time, and can cause catastrophic damage to your business, your family and ultimately you.
by Mark West | Jul 14, 2015 | Accountability, Action, Faith, Humility, Leaders, Leadership, Service
Recently I was re-reading a story in the gospel of Matthew in which a Roman captain came to Jesus with a problem of grave concern. The captain’s servant was very ill and in dire pain. He had heard of Jesus and the miracles he was performing and he believed Jesus could heal his servant. In the story, we see six traits of a successful leader being demonstrated by this Roman warrior.
As a point of reference for the rest of my comments, I would encourage you to read this short recounting of the conversation between the captain and Jesus (Matthew 8):
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When Jesus arrived in Capernaum, a Roman army captain came and pled with him to come to his home and heal his servant boy who was in bed paralyzed and racked with pain. “Yes,” Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.”
Then the officer said, “Sir, I am not worthy to have you in my home, and it isn’t necessary for you to come.If you will only stand here and say, ‘Be healed,’ my servant will get well! I know, because I am under the authority of my superior officers and I have authority over my soldiers, and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave boy, ‘Do this or that,’ and he does it. And I know you have authority to tell his sickness to go—and it will go!”
Jesus stood there amazed! Turning to the crowd he said, “I haven’t seen faith like this in all the land of Israel…”
Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, “Go on home. What you have believed has happened!” And the boy was healed that same hour![/tagline_box]
1. Serving Others
Two thousand years ago, in an era when life had very little value and when servants were viewed as property of their masters, we read of this Roman warrior captain, approaching Jesus in search of a cure for his servant’s illness. Such behavior by a leader of great power and prestige was not only unusual but likely unheard of. The captain sought to serve his servant by looking after his health needs.
Fast forward to today and we at times see servant leadership in a business owner or manager who makes personal or business sacrifices due to his concern for the welfare of his employees. This principle is routinely touted in business books and conferences dealing with success and it serves to remind us that “…he who is greatest among you will be your servant.” (Matt 23:11)
So, do you want to be great? Start by serving others out of a heart of love and true concern for them. But be prepared for a change to occur in you. You see, as you develop the quality of serving others, you’ll soon learn that being great is no longer a driving motivation for your actions.
2. Humility
Being great does not have to be a prideful thing. But desiring to be great is always prideful. The Roman captain demonstrated his greatness through his humility.
Notice that when Jesus offered to come to the captain’s house, he was quick to acknowledge that he was not worthy to have Jesus in his home. As a Roman captain, he no doubt had been taught that Jews were subservient to him. Yet, this man reflected the leadership quality of humility in suggesting that the “lesser” was in fact the greater of the two.
3. Faith
One definition of the word faith is “the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.” In the life of our Roman captain, we can see a mountain of faith in his life. By the mere fact that he approached Jesus he was demonstrating his faith. We also see that the captain acknowledged that he believed Jesus could merely say “Be healed” and his servant would be cured. There was no wavering in the belief of the battle hardened captain. He knew deep within his core that this was possible.
A leader oftentimes cannot fully understand how to achieve a goal but he will still reflect unfaltering belief that an idea or plan, with the proper actions and people, can and will come to fruition. He understands this truth and so he pursues that passion with solid determination. He is not halfhearted or tempered in his zeal to reach his goals but rather he fully anticipates that they will be achieved.
4. Affirm other Leaders
It’s interesting to note that this Roman captain, a man of great power and influence, did not come to Jesus demanding that he heal his servant. It would have been routine for the captain to speak in a condescending manner. Instead though, this leader recognized and affirmed Jesus as another leader. Note also that the captain did not feel threatened by Jesus, even though he clearly understood that Jesus possessed great powers Himself. Rather, the captain affirmed Jesus’ role, leadership and unique gifts.
As a business leader yourself, do you affirm your peers who are leaders? When you are around other accomplished men and women do you affirm them? Do you seek them out for assistance, input and counsel? Just as the Roman captain sought out a leader who could help him in his time of need, it’s wise for us to do likewise. Affirm other leaders by seeking them out, solicit their input and be willing to reciprocate that same spirit to others.
5. Accountability
Too often we see leaders become accountable to no one. In their self-inflated egos they begin to think of themselves higher than they ought and they forget a principle that is true of all of us: we are all accountable to someone.
In the case of this powerful Roman captain, he stated to Jesus that he had servants, soldiers and slaves who all reported to him. Yet, the captain acknowledged that he was under the authority of his superior officers. He too was accountable to someone.
Whether you are the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, or the entrepreneur of your own enterprise, do you live out this truth? There is something about having to answer to another person for our actions, attitudes and plans that will cause us to be measured, thoughtful and considerate of both our own choices and in the treatment of those whose lives have been entrusted to us.
6. Action Yields Results
Perhaps the word that characterizes American business most today is results. Wall Street, CEO’s, managers and quarterly reports all have one thing in common: they are all measured by their results! But results flow from action, or in some instances lack of action.
As we wrap up our story of the Roman captain, perhaps the most significant truth that we can see from his life is that without action there would have been no successful outcome for the servant. The captain’s deliberate and decisive action yielded the desired results: the servant was healed and his life saved.
Likewise, in your business, once you’ve weighed out your options, do you take deliberate action to achieve the results you seek? Leaders take action which then yields results. Don’t hesitate or flinch. Take in all the relevant information to make your decision but then Act. It’s the only way you will ever achieve the results you desire.
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Conclusion
There are many other traits that good leaders demonstrate and we’ll continue to explore them in the days to come. However, as an entrepreneur myself, I have experienced the value of these six leadership traits in my business and personal endeavors. I trust that as you’ve read this you’ve been reminded of the traits you are mastering while being encouraged to consider some that might assist you in furthering the goals you have for your business and life.
