A lot has changed in America and business in recent weeks. Since my last TO THE POINT blog, I’d attended the Nov. 1 Trump Rally in Milwaukee, used AI for the first time to recut a late 1990s Pop song (great fun by the way), met with all Lessiter Media managers prior to a full-staff meeting on the results of a challenging quarter, and monitored the Farm Equipment President Poll. That first-ever poll of machinery dealers accurately predicted the decisive outcome (near-mandate, even) of the U.S. presidential election.
And of course, there is the ongoing saga of the dealer-farmer fight (Lieb Farms vs. AHW), which continues to spur industry commentary and even a series of “answer letters” between big and small dealer execs. As of this writing, the guest blog “The Sacred Cow – Volume Discount/Bonus?” was the most viewed piece of content on the Farm Equipment website.
What happened in that Illinois dealer’s conference room segues well into a moving sermon heard at church.
Integrity: A Timely Topic
This morning, our longtime senior pastor, Chip Bernhard, left the pulpit momentarily to take a knee and lead the congregation in prayer for our newly-elected leaders. And then he stood and jumped right into the second theme of an extended study series on Biblical Virtues. This week’s message was all about integrity.
Unfortunately, it seems the days of expecting high character in the Oval Office – think Carter, Reagan and Bush – may forever be in the rear-view mirror. As critical as I was of President Clinton during his terms, history will remember him more fondly, as truth and presidential standards of character have since been redefined.
Save for the president of my earliest years (Nixon), I grew up admiring all the leaders in the White House. It’s a sad state of affairs when character, vision and governance abilities are viewed as mutually exclusive terms.
Of course, we wish it wasn’t that way in politics. I still clung to a belief that a return to yesteryear’s caliber of leaders was still possible. But in 2024, I may be too white-haired to think we can have it that way again. It won’t change unless a new generation aims to serve for the right reasons and yet still possesses the spine needed to deal with the mud slung at everyone all around them.
Integrity at Work
Politics is one thing; the workforce is another matter. As we give up our most treasured investment – our time in working hours – we can, and should, expect to be under the care of business leaders who’ll measure up to the word integrity. Most of us will get close to 100,000 work hours by the time we earn the gold watch, so high-character and high-integrity leadership should be a requirement for any business looking to keep its good talent on the payroll.
Bernhard defined integrity as “a combination of honesty and dependability with the right motive." It means one can always be trusted to do the right thing even when no one is watching, he says. Hypocrisy and dishonesty are absent from those with real integrity.
Titled “5 Marks of Integrity,” he says the message can apply to work, marriages, friendships and so on. Here are the foundational stones behind leadership with integrity.
- Living & Telling The Truth No Matter What. “One can pay a costly price for telling the truth but those with integrity choose to do so anyway.”
- Keeping A Promise No Matter What. “If you can’t do it, don’t say you can. If you don’t know, say so. And learn to say no.”
- Confront Problems As Soon As You Can. “When you walk away from problems, they don’t go away. When you find a situation that is serious, handle it in a way that doesn’t inflame the problem, but work to solve it.”
Bernhard borrowed the quote from the late Gulf War General Norman Schwarzkopf, who said, “I never walk past a problem. I never see something going wrong and forget about it. I always stop and confront it right there.’
“When you see a problem you deal with it,” Bernhard says. “The point is that little problems that aren’t nipped in the bud early can grow into monsters.”
- Integrity Blesses The Next Generation. “The next generation benefits greatly by learning from those with integrity. Modeling is the best way for them to learn. Role models shape values, character, outlook on life and health. They’ll watch and model seniors in their actions, words and tone of their voice.”
- Reliance On Higher Power. “You cannot be a person of integrity on human effort alone,” Bernhard says. “It takes God’s guidance and strength and grace. Those of integrity are leaning on the truth and strength of God to be faithful and consistent in their actions. To do the right thing at the right time in the right way requires strength, wisdom and understanding.
If you’d like to see the accompanying scripture verses or wish to watch the sermon in its entirety, email me at mlessiter@lessitermedia.com and I’ll get you hooked up.
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