The Bible speaks about integrity in Proverbs 11:3, “The integrity of the upright shall guide them, but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.” We have all seen this happen in the businesses that were found to be misleading the people in investments and real estate transactions. In order to be successful, business leaders must be able to convey to consumers that they are trustworthy.
Leaders and business owners must be careful in their dealings because of their prominence in the community. The employees at the lower end of the business tend to model their actions and dealings after the leaders. Therefore, if leaders and business owners are not acting with integrity, employees will follow suit.
The mark of a person who walks with integrity is a person who does the right thing at all times, regardless of what others in the world are doing. For example, Noah was seen as a righteous man. Genesis 6:8 (KJV) says, “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” When everyone else was committing wicked acts in the eyes of the Lord, Noah was doing the things that pleased God. Consequently, when God decided he was going to destroy mankind, he decided to save Noah.
In a world where the vast majority of the people tend to want to do their own thing, it is difficult to find those business owners and leaders who are acting with integrity. They make promises that they cannot keep, they lie and cheat consumers. Some do these things knowingly, while others do it out of ignorance. Business owners and leaders must strive to do things the right way, not what they feel is right.
Consumers must be treated with respect and should be given all the information that they need in order to make an intelligent and wise decision to purchase products. Accordingly, business owners and leaders must follow through on everything they say they are going to do for the consumer. We live in a world where it is very easy to damage someone’s reputation because of a negligent act.
When Jesus came, he preached “love they neighbor as thyself.” Being an expert in relationships, he said, “Greater love hath no man than this that he lay down his life for his friends,” John 15:13 (KJV). When Jesus walked the earth, he had many followers because he acted with integrity.
Business owners and leaders have a greater degree of responsibility to consumers than consumers have to them. Therefore, they must strive to make the right decisions at all times and to serve the consumer with integrity. When they do, they will attract many loyal customers.
The consequences for not walking with integrity are all too familiar to us. We saw in recent dealings of Bernie Madoff in the investment Ponzi scheme that he had perpetrated over several years before anyone caught on to his impropriety. This is an example of a man in whom people put their trust and confidence, only to learn that they were being misled. His deceptive acts led to imprisonment.
In conclusion, integrity and uprightness are two qualities that a business person and leader must have in order to be successful.
I enjoy reading this.
Unfortunately, may business people and leaders are willing to lie, cheat, and steal to get ahead in the wealth of this world’s system. It is refreshing to find business owners etc., who are faithful in their dealings.
nice post…i like it….
good stuff, interesting to read
Some interesting facts to know.
You are so right! I think that it is especially important for Christians to maintain integrity in all of their business dealings, because often nonChristians will watch Christians carefully and their impression of Christians and Christianity could be based on how they see Christians conducting themselves in business.