The Bible on Leadership

From Moses to Matthew—Management Lessons for Contemporary Leaders

Bible on Leadership, The

Author: Lorin Woolfe
Pub Date: 2007
Your Price: $24.95
ISBN: 0814406823
Format: Hardcover

 


Chapter One
Honesty and Integrity

"An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips."
- Prov. 24:26

"Judge me, O Lord, according to my . . . integrity."
- Ps. 7:8

God's honest truth. Actions that back up the words and words that are congruent with the actions. People of integrity and honesty. People we can trust. That's what we look for in our leaders.

James Kouzes and Barry Posner, one of the best-known teams of management experts in the United States and authors of The Leadership Challenge, performed a survey of several thousand people around the world and several hundred case studies. They found that honesty was the most frequently cited trait of a good leader, so frequently cited that they wrote a separate volume about it, called Credibility: How Leaders Gain and Lose It, Why People Demand It.

It doesn't matter how noble or worthwhile your cause; if you haven't earned people's trust by constantly keeping your word and being true to your values, people won't follow you too far. They may follow you to a point, but when the going gets tough, they'll start to hang back or look around for another leader. You may tell followers that despite the obstacles, the goal is achievable and that you will back them up 100 percent. But if you have failed to back them up in the past (or even if you simply lack a track record of trust and honesty), no one is going to line up to follow you through a deep mud puddle, let alone the Red Sea.

Lately, managers and leaders across the world have often left us wanting in this key area. Richard Nixon hired people to break into the headquarters of the opposing political party, then lied and claimed he had nothing to do with it. Bill Clinton had an affair with a White House intern a few years older than his daughter, then promptly denied that he had ever participated in any sexual activity with her.

Morton Thiokol, the aerospace company, failed to listen to a scientist's warnings that the Challenger spacecraft was unsafe, causing the entire crew to go crashing to a fiery death just minutes after the launch. Executives at Texaco engaged in a systematic pattern of discrimination against minority employees and tried to hide it, but audiotapes provided incontrovertible evidence of their actions.

The leaders in the Bible were cut from a different cloth. Even when their visions seemed unrealistic, people followed them because of their integrity and honesty. The Bible is full of examples of individuals who kept their words despite incredible natural and human obstacles, and of leaders who risked loss of power, money, and even their lives to keep their integrity intact. Noah was selected and rewarded for his integrity; Lot was saved from the hellfire and ashes of Sodom and Gomorrah for his honesty.

Moses, who brought God's warnings against lying, stealing, and coveting to his followers in dramatic fashion, was a man of great integrity himself. The Ten Commandments are very explicit: "Thou shalt not steal." "Thou shalt not murder." "Thou shalt not give false testimony against thy neighbor." "Thou shalt not covet they neighbor's house . . . wife . . . manservant or maidservant . . . or anything belonging to thy neighbor." That's four commandments out of ten that deal directly with integrity and honesty.

Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the other prophets, at great risk and with much unpopularity, warned an entire people when they were departing from their original precepts of truthfulness and morality. Jesus Christ brought the message that "the truth shall set you free," and he was willing to die for the truths he embodied. And fortunately today we have been blessed with a number of modern business leaders who realize that without honesty and integrity, material "success" rings hollow indeed.


HONESTY (AND DISHONESTY): ROLE MODELS

Fortunately for those of us who must work under modern leaders, integrity and honesty have not gone totally out of style. David Hunke, advertising director for the Miami Herald of the Knight-Ridder chain, notes: "We don't keep secrets very well around here, which is our own kind of joke. It is impossible to keep secrets, largely because of the issue of integrity. You can't imagine somebody at the very top of this corporation telling you something that wasn't true."1

Now we all know that, at least officially, journalists have a code of ethics. But what about Internet executives? CEO Robert Knowling of Covad Communications, an Internet provider, puts every employee through a three-day vision and values process, this in a fast-moving environment where time (measured in nanoseconds) is indeed money. An anchor of this process is the concept of integrity. "That's not an earthshaking aspiration but we give it some bite," notes Knowling. "We once had to dismiss a highly visible manager for a violation of our values. But, as Jack Welch says, you must be public about the consequences of breaking core values. I don't want to wake up one day with a profitable corporation that does not have a soul."2

Compare the integrity of Hunke and Knowling with that of monarchs Ahab and Jezebel, that "dirty duo" of the Bible whose lack of integrity would rival modern-day "monarchs" Leona and Harry Helmsley. For the uninitiated, Leona Helmsley was the New York "hotel queen" who, when caught paying almost no income taxes on a vast business empire, cavalierly stated that "only the little people pay taxes." There is a story, perhaps apocryphal, that she posted one of the "little people" on each side of her swimming pool with a bucket of iced shrimp so that she could partake while she swam her laps.

But Ahab and Jezebel's lack of integrity certainly rivals "Queen Leona's." A man named Naboth possessed a vineyard, which was close to Ahab's palace. Ahab wanted to buy it to use as a vegetable garden, but Naboth refused to sell: Ahab became angry and sullen, refusing to eat, but at least his first impulse was to obey the law, however distasteful and frustrating this might have been.

However, Jezebel saw no need for him to sulk or be disappointed: "Is this how you act as king over Israel? Get up and eat! Cheer up! I'll get you the vineyard." (1 Kings 21:7) She devised a simple yet totally amoral solution. She got two scoundrels (presumably through bribery or intimidation, since she was capable of both) to publicly testify that Naboth had cursed both God and the king (she wanted to cover all the bases).

Jezebel succeeded in getting Naboth stoned to death. As soon as she heard the "good news," she said to her husband, "Get up and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite that he refused to sell you." (1 Kings 21:15) Ahab, man of integrity that he was, was only too happy to comply.

Compare Ahab and Jezebel's approach with that of King David, who wanted to build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of a fellow named Araunah the Jebusite. David forthrightly approached Araunah to humbly ask him to sell the threshing floor at full price (Ahab had Naboth killed so he could appropriate Naboth's vineyard at no cost).

Araunah offered David the threshing floor for free: "Take it! Let my lord the king do whatever pleases him." (1 Chron. 21:23) But David insisted on paying full price despite the fact that as King he could easily have appropriated the property by executive fiat.

By comparison, here is a modern example of a "vineyard" that was certainly coveted but not seized from its rightful owner because of an executive's integrity. David Armstrong of Armstrong Industries wanted to build a new plant next to the old one. In order to do so, the company would have to buy the home of a retired employee in his seventies and force him to relocate. The president vetoed the plan, exclaiming, "When we bought it (the company parcel), I promised he could stay there as long as he liked. Making him move now might upset him to the point where it shortens his life."3 The new plant was built on the other side of the property.

And consider the integrity of Jean Maier, director of policy services for Northwestern Mutual Life. In a sense, she is watching over the "vineyards" (financial resources) of thousands of policyholders. Before she took the job, she told her boss, "'I can't do this job unless I know I can do the right thing. I can't take some old lady's policy away . . . if I think it's not honorable.' And my boss said to me, 'You will never have to do that.' And I have never been put in that position."4 Naboth would have been safe with her as a neighbor.

Too often, it seems honesty and integrity don't pay off in the short term, whereas dishonesty and lack of integrity do. How often have we heard sayings like "Do unto others before they can do unto you" or "No good deed will go unpunished"? In the Bible (as in business and organizational life), wrongdoers ultimately receive their proper consequences and virtuous people their just rewards, although not without a lot of needless suffering. If only people could be more honest from the beginning.

For instance, there's the ancient case study of Pharaoh, whose lack of integrity rivals any modern leader. This absolute ruler of Egypt could not tolerate any threat to his power. To keep his Hebrew slaves and build his vast monuments to himself, he was willing to rain destruction and death on his own people. When he refused to let the Hebrews go, God visited ten progressively destructive plagues on the Egyptians, starting with frogs (a relatively benign affliction) and moving to the killing of the firstborn (talk about progressive discipline!).

Pharaoh relented, probably because his own son was one of those killed. The story of the Israelites' hurried packing and exodus (resulting in the world's fastest-baking bread, matzoh) is well known to Jews and Christians alike. And it's a good thing that they were able to "bake and run" so quickly, because Pharaoh's "integrity" lasted only a few days. He went back on his word and pursued the Hebrews into the desert.

We're all familiar with what happened to Pharaoh's men when they tried to pursue the Israelites across the dry bed of the Red Sea, which had been parted for the fugitives. Seas may part for people of honor and integrity, but they often rush back to drown those whose word means nothing to themselves or others.

One test of a leader's integrity is his or her attitude toward "public" property. Some leaders take it all with them; others refuse to take a penny of the funds with which they have been entrusted. In recent times we know of leaders like Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Imelda (she of the thousands of pairs of shoes), who appropriated much of their country's wealth before absconding to foreign shores. Compare their leave-taking to that of Samuel, who presided as the high priest of Israel for several decades. Not only did he refuse to take anything not belonging to him, he also asked his countrymen to identify anything that he had accumulated through the power of his office, and he would quickly and cheerfully return it!

Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the Lord . . . Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I taken a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these, I will make it right.

"You have not cheated or oppressed us," they replied. "You have not taken anything from anyone's hand." (1 Sam. 12:1 - 4)

Now, how many of today's business or political leaders would willingly open themselves up to such scrutiny? Michael Milken and Ivan Boesky certainly would not pass the test. Neither would many of the third-world leaders like the Sultan of Borneo, who made off with $1 billion worth of his country's oil wealth. But the third world is not the only place where political leaders fail to measure up in this area: Just ask the driver of the truck that pulled up to the Clintons' new Westchester County mansion to quietly remove and return to the White House a large collection of expensive furniture that had been donated - not to them personally but to "the Office of the President."

Samuel didn't passively respond or react to an investigation of his possessions. He initiated it himself! He invited investigation of his honesty and integrity, down to the last ox and donkey, promising to return anything that might have been immorally appropriated, no matter how insignificant. And he promised to rectify the least evidence of impropriety or dishonest gain.

This type of integrity runs throughout the Old and New Testaments. Consider the farewell speech of the disciple Paul to his followers:

I have not coveted anyone's silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions . . . They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. (Acts 20:32 - 37)

Is it any wonder that such a profession and display of integrity and honesty provoked such heartfelt loyalty from Paul's followers, or that their grief was so great over the thought of losing him? If you left your organization today, would your followers grieve so openly about losing you, and if they did, would any of their grief relate to losing a leader of integrity?

But is integrity really attainable at the highest levels in modern business? Can't it be an impediment to material success? Charles Wang, chairman of Computer Associates, sees no such conflict. Wang is head of a $4.7 billion company, but he argues that effectiveness often boils down to truth telling, not dollars.

To be a successful person . . . you have to have integrity. Your word has to be everything you've got. You must have a moral compass. That's especially true if you're a leader because you're exposed more. People will get a sense of you, and if you are not true . . . they'll get a sense that you are sleazy . . . We buy a company, there's a contract that's just terrible, but you inherit all the contracts. You can argue the guy had no authority to sign it, but you . . . honor the contract."5

But leadership doesn't always have to be on a grand scale or come from the very top. John Boten, commercial systems manager of John Deere, feels that every transaction, no matter how large or small, should be conducted with integrity. When his company was undercharged by a vendor, he acted like King David, not King Ahab. "There was no question about it, we paid the vendor the amount that was due . . . it was taught to me early in my career that I have to have integrity in everything I do."6 This one transaction was not going to "make or break" the company. Boten elected to follow his conscience and the words of Luke 16:10: "Whoever is dishonest with little will be dishonest with much."


INTEGRITY DESPITE TEMPTATION AND ADVERSITY

The story of Zacchaeus shows us that people who have lost their integrity can find it again. Zacchaeus was a tax collector for the Roman government, one of the least popular professions in ancient Israel. But he was not beyond rehabilitation. Because he was a short man, he climbed a tree so he could more clearly see and hear this mysterious prophet, Jesus. Jesus' response was to invite himself to the home of this social outcast:

"Zacchaeus, come down immediately, for I must stay at your house today" . . . All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a sinner." But Zacchaeus stood up and said . . ."Look Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay him back four times the amount." (Luke 19:1 - 8)

That's a pretty big turnaround for a tax collector. Even Samuel, Israel's high priest, promised to give back only what he had taken, not four times what he had taken!

Sometimes the integrity of those who have sinned outshines that of those who have always taken the high road. In the early 1990s, audiotapes revealed that a group of Texaco executives had racist attitudes and were systematically denying the hiring and promotion of African Americans. Texaco denied the problem at first, but finally CEO Peter Bijur decided to take an approach with more integrity. He fired one of the offending executives, denied retirement benefits to another, established a plan to hire more African Americans at all levels of the organization, and settled a lawsuit for $140 million. That's a pretty big turnaround for an oil executive.

Rick Roscitt of AT&T Solutions might have been tempted to misrepresent his organization's capabilities, since his new venture represented a huge financial risk for the organization and a personal risk to his professional future. Although he needed every bit of new business he could get, he turned away clients he didn't feel he could serve correctly, and admitted errors immediately, without the all-too-common hemming and hawing. "What inspired me most about Rick was how honest he was about the business," notes Chief Technology Officer Dick Anderson. "He wouldn't hesitate to say to a client, 'You know, we didn't do this right' or 'We don't think we should work for you' . . . His aim wasn't to smell like a rose all the time, but instead to make things right." Adds a client, "He engaged us in good faith give and take . . . he was honest, a man of his word, and courageous, and I'll only work with a partner like that."7

Warren Buffett, who has risen to the top in the rough and tumble world of investing, notes that lack of honesty can create adversity. You might think that his hiring criteria would be aggressiveness and hard-headed numbers-crunching. But listen to his real hiring criteria: "integrity, intelligence, and energy. Hire someone without the first, and the other two will kill you."8

The Bible is very specific about doing business honestly: "Do not have two differing weights in your bag - one heavy, one light. Do not have two differing measures in your house - one large, one small. You must have accurate weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land." (Deut. 25:13 - 15)

If you want to "live long in the land" of Merrill Lynch, integrity is expected. Chairman Emeritus John Tully called brokers when they made a large "killing" of $2 million or $3 million. "They thought I was calling to congratulate them," he muses. "But I was really calling to ask them a few questions. 'How did you make all that money? If the New York Times put how you did it on the front page, would you be proud?' I wanted to remind them of the culture of this firm and I wanted to make sure they lived it."

Tully also made integrity the first order of business in the performance appraisals of the firm's top 200 people. "The first question we always asked was never, 'How much did Dan produce?' It was always, 'Have you ever known Dan to distort or color the truth?"'

Tully also insisted that the firm display its integrity during the 1987 stock market crash. Some firms elected to minimize the damage by "hiding" from their customers during that period. "I said today's going to be a day when we're remembered for how we act. I want you folks to get out there . . . answer the phones, treat your clients with respect, give them good counsel . . . Do what's right for people and . . . you will be awash in clients. It never works the other way around."9

Another man who adhered to the same principles of integrity under adversity as Tully but predates him by about four thousand years was Job. You may argue that those Bible leaders had it easy, that they lived in a much less complex world and traded in a few camels, not billions of dollars. The issues of right and wrong were much more clear-cut then, and ethical decisions could be made a lot more easily.

Tell that to the protagonists in the Book of Job. It is one of the longest books in the Bible, an extended debate on integrity, humility, and discipline and how these are to be applied in the "real world."

The "patience of Job" is legendary. What is often forgotten is his integrity. Job was a recipient of every calamity known to God and man. First, he had every single one of his oxen and donkeys carried off by a marauding tribe called the Sabeans, who then "put to the sword" every one of his servants. To compound matters, all his sons and daughters were killed when a windstorm collapsed the house in which they were feasting. Finally, Satan afflicted Job with painful sores "from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes." ( Job 1, 2)

Talk about hitting "rock bottom"! Here is a man whose trials paralleled or surpassed any modern leader's sufferings. He had owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and a large number of servants. He had lost all seven of his sons and daughters. If any man could be pardoned for temporarily (or permanently) deserting his principles, it would be Job. Even his wife suggested he was a gullible fool for sticking to these principles: "Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!" ( Job 2:9 - 10)

But Job repeatedly refused to give up his integrity: "You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God and not trouble? . . . as long as I have life within me . . . my lips will not speak wickedness . . . I will not deny my integrity." ( Job 2:10, 27:2 - 5)

The modern leader may undergo many trials, but few of them as devastating as Job's. In a sense, all that he had left was his integrity, and he was determined to hold onto it. Leaders in all ages should realize that whether the coffers are bulging or empty, whether the flock is increasing or dwindling, integrity is the measure of leadership.

Consider Randall Tobias, CEO of Eli Lilly. When his company went through some difficult times in the mid-1990s, he did not seek a pure mathematical model for cutting costs. He considered the overall impact on the company and on the individuals who had in many cases spent their whole lives working for the company. Rather than dismiss them, he offered early retirement and one year's pay.

Bill Adams, CEO of Armstrong World Industries, takes an extremely personal and proactive approach to integrity at his company. He gives every employee his personal phone number and tells them, "Call me personally if you are ever asked to do something you consider wrong." His motto is not "Let the buyer beware" but "Let the buyer have faith."10

But some people never learn. One of the most dishonest men in the Bible is Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus' disciples who betrayed him, mostly out of greed and perhaps also out of jealousy. Judas realized he had none of the healing powers, communication skills, or ability to inspire others positively that his "boss" had. He knew he was never going to be "the boss" or even the boss's right-hand man. But he could make an impact by betraying the man many believe to be the son of God.

Judas' lack of integrity was noticed even before he betrayed Jesus. People who lack integrity usually show it in a variety of situations. At a dinner in Jesus' honor, a woman took a pint of expensive perfume and poured it on Jesus' feet. Guess which disciple objected on the basis of "integrity"? The one who lacked it the most: Judas Iscariot, who complained, "'Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages.' He did not say this because he cared for the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it." ( John 12:4 - 6)

The example of Judas shows how it takes only one dishonest person or malcontent to severely derail a cooperative effort, particularly when that person is at or near the top.

A modern leader who feigned empathy toward the poor while he was enriching himself at their expense was William Aramony, former CEO of The United Way, the organization that historically has helped the modern equivalent of the widow, the orphan, the blind, the halt, and the lame. Aramony, who was making $400,000 per year, was discovered to have misappropriated a large amount of the organization's funds and resources for his own personal benefit.


ACTING WITH INTEGRITY

Words are not exactly cheap, but actions are dearer. Matthew emphasized that long speeches and "oaths" were not necessary to impress people with one's integrity.

Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your "Yes" be "Yes" and your "No," "No." (Matt. 5:33 - 37)

In recent years, we have been treated to leaders like Bill Clinton asking interrogators to "clarify" the meaning of the word is, and Bill Gates questioning the meaning of the word concerned. In the face of obfuscations like these, it is sometimes difficult to believe these men's "yeses" and "nos."

But let's go back a few thousand years, to Nehemiah, whose integrity inspired the people of Judah to rebuild the temple in less than two months. Appointed governor by King Artaxerxes, Nehemiah could have enriched himself and used any means at his disposal to complete the temple. But:

Neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor. But the earlier governors . . . placed a heavy burden on the people and took forty shekels of silver from them in addition to food and wine. But . . . I did not act like that. Instead I devoted myself to the work on this wall . . . we did not acquire any land . . . Furthermore, a hundred and fifty Jews and officials ate at my table . . . Each day one ox, six choice sheep and some poultry were prepared for me . . . in spite of all this, I never demanded the food allotted to the governor, because the demands were heavy on these people. (Neh. 5:14 - 18)

Note that Nehemiah refused to appropriate more than he was entitled to. He didn't even ask for the full amount of what he was entitled to, but shared what he had with his followers. This was for the sake of the morale of the people and for rapid completion of the task. Compare his philosophy to that of Russ Baumgardner, president of Apogee Enterprises, a glass manufacturer cited as one of the one hundred best companies to work for in America: "We pay the taxes that are due. We don't pay more than we owe, but we never cheat the government . . . And as long as we're on the subject, we never cheat our suppliers, or our employees, or our customers."11

The prophets were the people who kept the nation of Israel "honest." Again and again the people lost sight of the commandments dealing with honesty and integrity. Again and again, prophets arose to remind them where "true north" lay on the compass when the whole nation was taking a moral turn to the south.

Ezekiel prophesied against false prophets, those with "false words, lying visions . . . and utter lying divinations." (Ezek. 13:8 - 9) Today we speak of those who "varnish" or "whitewash" the truth by putting a pleasing patina on top of a weak or faulty structure. Several thousand years ago, Ezekiel addressed this universal problem using a very similar analogy:

When a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash, therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall . . . When it falls, you will be destroyed in it . . . So I will spend my wrath against the wall and against those who covered it with whitewash. I will say to you, "The wall is gone, and so are those who whitewashed it." (Ezek. 13:10 - 16)

Ezekiel proclaims there can be no true peace and harmony, either in business or politics, without true honesty and integrity. "Whitewashes" may seem to work in the short run, but they rarely do in the long run.

In 1985, Federal prosecutors charged GE's Re-Entry Systems with a mammoth whitewashing job, claiming they had committed $800,000 in fraud by altering workers' time cards. At first, GE refused to admit guilt, but Jack Welch says, "we got to the point where we concluded that someone did cheat . . . Until we got to that point, we were chasing ourselves around in a circle." He might have added that they were just adding coats of whitewash to a flawed structure. When Welch and GE finally saw that the problem was one of "basic integrity," they admitted their transgressions and set up an ethics program to make sure that the problem was addressed.12

The times of Jeremiah the prophet were corrupt, perhaps even more corrupt than America in the late twentieth century! He continuously spoke out about the lack of integrity that permeated the entire society, which did not make him a revered guest of honor at the king's court or banquets. But a leader who points out other leaders' lack of integrity is not necessarily going to be popular in any society or business:

Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, look around and consider, search through her squares. If you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city. Although they say "As surely as the Lord lives," still they are swearing falsely. (Jer. 5:1 - 2)

Like the Greek philosopher Diogenes, Jeremiah could not find one honest man in the entire city. But he reasoned that he had looked only among the rank and file, not the exalted and moral heads of the metropolis. But, to a man, "with one accord they too had broken off the yoke and torn off the bonds. Therefore a lion from the forest will attack them, a wolf from the desert will ravage them . . . for their rebellion is great and their backslidings many." ( Jer. 5:5 - 6)

Back then, the likelihood of an actual lion or ravaging wolf was a more literal likelihood, and a more compelling metaphor. Today, lack of honesty and integrity in our business and political leaders has fewer direct physical consequences, but just as great an impact on the business and political climate in our country. The "wolves" and "lions" that attack a leader or company that lacks integrity include loss of purpose, disaffection, and discouragement from the janitorial closet to the boardroom, and ultimately loss of trust from the consumer of the product or service.

Compare the long-term effects of Johnson & Johnson's proactively and voluntarily removing millions of dollars worth of Tylenol from the shelves when a tiny number of cyanide-contaminated containers were discovered with Ford's begrudging acknowledgement (after many articles, Congressional hearings, and speeches by Ralph Nader) that the location of the Mustang's gas tank had been responsible for many fiery deaths. Which company acted with more integrity? Which realized better short- and long-term economic and public relations results?

The prophet Isaiah lived in an era where honesty and integrity were not the foundations of the nation of Israel. He saw a vision of the Lord surrounded by angels, looked down at himself, and realized just how morally far he and his nation had sunk:

"'Woe to me!' I cried. 'I am ruined! I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips."' (Isa. 6:5)

Isaiah was probably the "cleanest-lipped" guy in town, but even he knew he was lacking. In a corrupt organization, all get corrupted. Once a company gets a reputation for "dirty dealing," even the most honest of its employees get tarred with the same brush. Perhaps Isaiah had nowhere else to go, or perhaps he had a supreme dedication to his people, but he decided to stay and reform the organization, despite the fact that he was preaching his message as forcefully as he could while no one seemed to be listening or responding.

Every organization has at least one Isaiah, someone who reminds the organization of its original mission and principles each time it strays from them. The wise and courageous leader permits the existence of "Isaiahs" as a safety valve and a warning sign. The wisest leaders protect their Isaiahs from harm or even become Isaiahs themselves. Some organizations even have a position called "corporate ombudsman," a person whose role is to challenge the wisdom and integrity of the status quo, which is supported by those in power but may not always be of long-term benefit to the organization.

Over 90 percent of the Fortune 500 have a statement of ethics. But to many, these statements are just writing on the wall. How many operationalize them like Northrup Grumman, which has an ethics department with a full-time staff that trains and counsels employees on the complex and daunting issues often faced in the aerospace industry?13

Or consider a CEO who takes it upon himself to be his own "Isaiah." Bill Hewlett of Hewlett-Packard once found the door to a supply room locked. He didn't like what that said about the honesty of the company's employees, so he snapped the lock open with a bolt cutter and left a note that said, "Don't ever lock this door again."14 That act probably communicated more about company integrity than a hundred speeches at corporate gatherings.

Sir Adrian Cadbury, CEO of a company whose name is associated with sweetness, not toughness, stands firm in his belief that actions, not words, are the key measures of integrity. "The ethical standards of a company are judged by its actions, not by pious statements of intent put out in its name." This is probably a direct criticism of companies that actually hire outside consultants to "design" an "ethics statement," which has little or nothing to do with the way business is actually conducted. A company's true ethics are reflected by "where we stand as individual managers and how we behave when faced with decisions which require us to combine ethical and commercial judgments. What are our personal rules of conduct? Who else will be affected?"15

How important is it for leaders to have actions congruent with their stated beliefs and "good intentions"? Don't just ask the head of a chocolate company. Put the question to James, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus: "Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like." ( James 1:22 - 24)


SYSTEMS, SAFEGUARDS, STANDARDS

Individuals tend to exercise increased integrity and honesty when the group culture supports these behaviors. It takes very strong individuals to maintain these traits, particularly when they are in a position of power, with no checks, balances, or rules.

The rule of law is repeated many times over in the Bible, as are the actual laws. There are particularly strong warnings about abuses of power by those in high authority, as well as commands for leaders and followers at all levels to behave ethically.

The following passage was written by Moses, centuries before Saul was anointed the first king of Israel. Moses was keenly aware of the potential for abuse of power by any leader, no matter how upright. Therefore, he suggested some safeguards, which we have too often ignored in selecting our modern business and political leaders (or which they have ignored even when they were in place):

The king . . . must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them . . . He must not take too many wives or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law . . . It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life . . . [He should] not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or the left. (Deut. 17:14 - 20)

If only our modern business leaders paid more attention to these guidelines! Moses realized what Lord Acton centuries later expressed so succinctly, that "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." He recognized the intrinsic threat that too much power might pose to a leader's honesty and integrity. Moses' warning addresses the dangers of greed (too many horses or large amounts of silver and gold can dull a leader's ability to spot injustice in other places), lust (too many wives or affairs can also hurt a leader's judgment and credibility), and arrogance (no leaders, corporate or political, are to hold themselves above the law).

Even kings and CEOs (or perhaps especially kings and CEOs) need written standards and guidelines to help remind them how to act ethically. When Solomon was about to succeed David on the throne of Israel, David's biggest priority and most fervent prayer was for his son to continue his tradition of integrity: "I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity . . . And give my son Solomon the wholehearted devotion to keep your commands, requirements and decrees . . ." (1 Chron. 29:17 - 19)

A company with a well-developed system of ethics - which is actually used rather than merely stated - does not spend a lot of time deciding the ethicality of each decision. In fact, a strong code like Johnson & Johnson's credo makes the decisions easier. An action either fits the code or it doesn't, and the stronger the code and the more often it has been put into practice, the clearer the ethical path.

John Pepper, chairman of Procter & Gamble, believes that "ethical business is good business." Moreover, it tends to attract and retain ethical people.

There are any number of people in this company who came here - and stay here - because of our ethical standards. When we move into places like Eastern Europe and ask new employees why they sought us out, it's wonderful to hear them say, "Because of what you stand for." I remember a former P & G chairman saying if it ever got to a point where we didn't think we could uphold good ethics and stay in a country, we'd leave that country . . . It's wonderful to have things you don't have to talk about. When we are discussing a product and there's something wrong with it, you know it's not up for discussion anymore until it's fixed.16

Herb Kelleher, CEO of Southwest Airlines must be sitting in the same tent as Pepper. He also feels that maintaining an ongoing set of ethical standards

. . . makes everything a lot easier. If someone makes a proposal, we don't spend a lot of time on it if it's contrary to our values. We just say, "No, we're not going to do that!" You might be able to make a lot of money, but it doesn't make any difference. It's not what we stand for. We can move quickly and say, "Okay, what's the next item?"17

There are probably a lot of business and political leaders who wish they had "moved on to the next item" rather than embarked on a course of action that was ethically questionable. But it takes a set of standards to be able to know when to "move on."

It also helps to "select capable men . . . trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain," Jethro's instructions to Moses in selecting his "officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens." (Exod. 18:21) But just in case a few "bad apples" have fallen into the barrel, it's good to set up a system for detecting and removing them. After the Minuteman nose cone scandal in which they were found guilty of padding payroll records, GE instituted an ethics program, a component of which was a booklet called "The Spirit and the Letter of Our Commitment." The booklet, reproduced in all languages, explained that an ombudsman and hotline had been placed in every facility to field reports of potentially unethical activities. Says Welch, "We tell employees exactly who to call . . . Out of the messes you create new levels of excellence. Something has to come out of every serious event . . . How do you take it to the next step?"18

A system of ethics and standards can even cut across seemingly impregnable religious boundaries. Gary Heavin is the founder of Curves for Women, an international franchisor of health clubs for women. Heavin, a conservative Christian, has based his company largely on New Testament principles. But ironically, he has attracted Chasidic Jews as franchisees. Why? "They tell me, 'We appreciate your value system and your integrity. We wouldn't trust someone without a value system."'19

Dennis Bakke and Roger Sant, leaders of AES, a giant electric utility, also feel that the special "buy-in" they get from their employees is based on their value system: "Our main goal . . . was to build a company that embodied the four principles that we felt mattered in any kind of community, be it a business, church, village or whatever: fairness, integrity, social responsibility, and fun."20 (Who said an ethical company has to be boring?)


WHO'S WATCHING, ANYWAY?

In an old folk tale, a farmer tells his hired man to take a chicken and kill it "where no one can see." The hired man returns in a few hours with a live chicken. "Why didn't you kill it?" asks the farmer. "Everywhere I go, the chicken sees," answers the hired man.

Behind this humorous story is a subtle message: Someone is always watching, even if it is only the victim, the perpetrator, or the perpetrator's conscience. King David's forces were aligned against the forces of his own son, Absalom, who was trying to take over his father's throne a few years before the father was ready to hand it over. (Sounds like a typical family business.) David commanded his troops, "Be gentle with the young man Absalom for my sake." (2 Sam. 5:5) Absalom, riding his mule, got his hair caught in a tree and was hanging by it when a common foot soldier from David's side came upon him, but did not harm him. He reported this to his commander, Joab:

Joab said to the man, "What? You saw him? Why didn't you strike him to the ground right there? Then I would have had to give you ten shekels of silver and a warrior's belt." But the man replied, "Even if a thousand shekels were weighted out into my hands, I would not lift my hand against the king's son. In our hearing the king commanded you, 'Protect the young man Absalom for my sake."' (2 Sam. 18:11 - 12)

This low-ranking foot soldier showed true integrity, refusing to be swayed by material reward or the wrath of his immediate superior. He knew he was not "alone" in the woods; whatever he did, Absalom (and perhaps a higher power) would see.

The New Testament also has many references to honesty and integrity, such as this passage from Matthew: "Live as though God were watching. Don't do your good deeds in front of men only." I worked in an organization where one work group had put up a sign that said, "Do nothing you would not do if Jesus were coming. Say nothing you would not say if Jesus were coming. Think nothing you would not think if Jesus were coming." The sign was needed, because there was a lot of tension and dissension in the unit, due at least as much to the nature of the work as to the personalities of the people. I can only imagine how the unit would have functioned without the sign!

Paul Galvin, former CEO of Motorola, went by this credo: "Tell them the truth, first because it's the right thing to do and second because they'll find out anyway." Whether in the short run or in the long run, dishonesty has a way of being exposed. And often, exposure happens just at the time when its purveyors can least afford it.

Employees are watching, not just in the electronics industry, but in the airlines too. Gordon Bethune took over Continental Airlines at a time when morale and trust were extremely low. He burned the procedures manual, painted the planes, made the first profits the airline had experienced in years, and delivered on a promised $65-per-employee bonus for on-time performance. Employees were watching carefully to see if he could be trusted; any failure to deliver on any of these promises could have spelled the end of Continental's revitalization.

And if you are a leader with a conscience, you are watching yourself (you don't need a chicken). Chris Graff, founder of Marque, an Indiana-based ambulance manufacturer, says, "I guess it's just a moral or ethical decision for me. When we make a decision, we should be able to explain that decision in the same way to anybody who asks, be it our spouse, our business partner, an employee, a creditor, or a customer. I have to sleep at night."21

James Burke, former CEO of Johnson & Johnson, made many of his biggest decisions based on Johnson & Johnson's famed credo, which has been in effect for almost six decades. The basic message of the credo is: Be straight with your employees, your customers, the public, and yourself, and you will achieve long-term success. During the Tylenol crisis, the company made an ethical decision that before risking even one more life to potential cyanide poisoning, economic sacrifice was necessary. Large amounts of product were destroyed, but Johnson & Johnson was not.

No one could ever accuse Jack Welch of being "soft-headed." But even Welch, the ultimate hardball player, believed that "excellence and competition are totally compatible with honesty and integrity. The A student, the four-minute miler, the high-jump world record holder - all strong winners - can achieve those results without resorting to cheating. People who cheat are simply weak."

Welch was taken aback when almost half of a group of business students, in a hypothetical case situation, said they would deposit $1 million in a Swiss bank account to an agent in order to book a $50 million order. "I was shocked! Shocked! I told the students someone was teaching them the wrong things. This was not one of those cases where you had to interpret the law; this was a simple bribery case."22

Bill O'Brien, president of Hanover Insurance, declared that though "once the morals of the workplace seemed to require a level of morality in business that was lower than in other activities, we believe there is no fundamental tradeoff between the higher virtues of life and economic success. We believe we can have both. In fact, we believe that, over the long term, the more we practice the higher virtues of life, the more economic success we will have."23 At the time he spoke, the company was in the top quartile of its industry and had grown 50 percent faster than the industry standard over a ten-year period.

Honesty and integrity are not easy traits to implement over the long-term, but they've stood the test of time - over 5,000 years if we want to take a true "strategic" (biblical) view of this issue. Frances Hesselbein, former CEO of the Girl Scouts of America has noted that the longest-lasting organizations are usually blessed with leaders who have a sense of ethics and personal integrity. She may have been thinking of the Girl Scouts or century-old companies like Procter & Gamble, but her comments could equally apply to the organizational leaders of the Old and New Testaments.

Whether the time is 5000 b.c. or the twenty-first century, honesty and integrity ensure organizational success in the way it matters most - in the long term!


BIBLICAL LESSONS ON HONESTY AND INTEGRITY

* People won't follow leaders they think are dishonest.
* You can't expect honest followers if you model dishonesty.
* The higher you go, the more visible your integrity or lack of it becomes.
* "Insignificant" dishonest acts usually beget larger acts of dishonesty.
* In times of crisis, adversity, and temptation, a leader's integrity becomes most evident.
* Integrity is exhibited in actions, not pronouncements of intention.
* Honesty and integrity pay off long-term, though they may involve losses and sacrifices short-term.
* An organization with an ethical code and system of safeguards can create more consistently honest leaders.
* Act as if someone else with more power than you is watching.

© 2002 Lorin Woolfe
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