GEO Principle Blog

To tell the truth

Perhaps none of us need to be as blunt as the fellow in this article, but most of us understand that honesty is the best policy. There is a commandment about telling the truth, and you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out what that means. But, in fact, being honest can be much harder than it seems upon initial consideration.

We Minnesotans are famous for avoiding confrontation. The term "Minnesota nice" was developed for a reason. Most of us will smile and nod in agreement, even if we don't really agree because we want to avoid making a scene. (This is unlike my friends from the East Coast, who seem to be very comfortable making a scene.) No matter where you are from, however, there is a human tendency to tell people what they want to hear more than what it true.

Nobody enjoys delivering bad news. At work, it is much easier to tell the boss what he or she expects than it is to tell the truth. It is easier to avoid the truth than to share it. So when the commandment says "Thou shall not bear false witness," the challenge is actually quite significant, even for faith-filled people.

I also think of that story in Matthew (21:28-31) where the master asks his two sons to work in the vineyard; one says he will and then doesn't do so; the other says he won't but changes his mind and decides to go to work. We readily acknowledge that the first son is wrong to go back on his word. We all know a person should do what they say they are going to do. They should tell the truth. But maybe this first son was a little like us Minnesotans; maybe he didn't like to disappoint others. It is easier for him to say what the master expects and then disappoint in private. At least by saying "yes," he gets happy face-time with the master, leaving the disappointment to a time when he is someplace else.

We need to find the courage to say what we mean, to follow through on our commitments, to refrain from making commitments that we have no intention of keeping, to be honest. Clearly, it is not always easy. Sometimes saying "no" will disappoint. But disappointment is better than deception.

Consider seriously the concerns others bring to you

Bringing God to work means loving those around us; let me give one example of how to show those around you at work that you love them: take their concerns seriously. 

Do you know what it is like to have a concern and have others dismiss it like it's not important, as if it's no big deal? I think we all know when it has happened to us. Here is a very small example. I go to a store to buy a pair of pants. They fit okay but the legs are too long. The salesperson says, "no problem, just hem them up." The salesperson dismisses my concern about the length of the pants. Inside, I'm thinking "Where am I going to get them hemmed up? How do I do that? I don't have a tailor. I can't do this myself." The salesperson didn't solve my problem, he dismissed it -- and me in the process.

Or I think about a recent experience I had buying a refrigerator. The salesperson encouraged us to get one of those models that automatically makes ice cubes. I asked how that works and the salesperson said a pipe connects the refrigerator to a water pipe in the house. I know little about plumbing and this sounded complicatedto me. I was concerned about how I would connect to my home's plumping. I shared my concern but the salesperson dismissed it as insignificant. "It's simple," he said. "There are written instructions included." I ended up going somewhere else for the refrigerator.

In both these cases, the salesperson dismissed my concerns, which I admit may have seemed trivial to them. To me, nonetheless, they were serious concerns. I was the one who would have to take care of the problem, and I was the one who would have to live with the results. If I connected the refrigerator to the wrong pipe, I am the one who would be stuck fixing yet another problem. In both examples, I would have felt much better if the salesperson had discussed my concern at greater length and then offered real solutions to help me, not solutions that merely made it obvious he wanted to complete the sale and move on as quickly as possible to the next customer.

These are sales examples, but I am sure most of you reading this can think of examples in your work setting -- perhaps with a boss or colleague -- where you have been earnestly concerned about something and the other person does not take your concern seriously. This attacks your dignity. This makes you feel bad, a little less human. Knowing what it feels like to have your concerns ignored or dismissed provides motivation to fully consider the concerns of those around you. You do not want to make others feel as you might feel when your concerns are dismissed.

When someone brings a concern to you, you cannot always solve it. But what you can do is let the person tell you about their concern, listen patiently, try to understand the concern as thoroughly as possible, even if you don't think the concern is particularly serious. Don't tell them their concern is unimportant. If the concern seems unimportant to you, then share the information you have which mitigates the situation. But share the information in a manner which comforts them, not dismisses them.

If someone brings you a concern, suggest solutions. Offer to be a part of the solution, if you can. Don't downplay the cost of the solution. The refrigurator salesman told me I could get a plumber to set up the icemaker in my new appliance for "a few bucks." Hiring a plumber always costs more than a few bucks. Downplaying the cost of a particular solution is just another way to dismiss the concern.

My point is, take the time to work through concerns when people bring them to you. If people take you seriously enough to bring a concern to you, then the best way you can respect their human dignity is to consider their concern seriously enough to help them truly resolve it.

Authenticity, a key to business success, starts on a personal level

I had the opportunity to listen to B. Joseph Pine talk about customer service recently. He has this new book out, in which he describes the importance of delivering authentic experiences. People can easily detect insincerity and if they detect it in your business, they will choose to go elsewhere.

I found his argument compelling. Pine was talking about authenticity from an organizational perspective, but my experience is that authenticity has to start on the personal level. An organization cannot deliver authenticity unless its employees are doing so on an individual basis. This is where the GEO Principle is essential.

Authenticity starts with knowing yourself, and I will contend that you cannot truly know yourself without knowing God first. As a person grows in faith, he develops a relationship with God that allows him to see himself more accurately. Personal relationships blossom when people present themselves sincerely and honestly. If a company can do the same, I have no doubt its business will blossom as Pine suggests.  

Avoid college debt to obtain the freedom of graduation

These kinds of stories are always interesting. Who can resist a story about what others are making these days? Clearly it's a tough time to be starting out in the job market. The unemployment rate is higher now than it has been in a long time.

But I think it is important to make the point that college should be about much more than getting a high-paying job and that work is about much more than money. College graduation should have something to do with freedom -- freedom to choose a job that pays only a modest wage, if a person feels such a job offers the best opportunity to apply his skills and talents. My fear is that many people are getting a college education but they are not getting the freedom that it should bring. Astronomical tuition debt defeats the purpose of their college degree.

When I graduated from college in 1983 in another very difficult job market, I was free to take almost any job because I had no one to care for but myself. I went to the local college and had no tuition debt to repay.

I feel sad when I hear people talk about graduating with $50,000 or more in school loans. That's a tough way to start out life on your own. Knowledge should be freeing, but people who graduate with tens of thousands of dollars of debt are not as free as they should be. They face a lot of pressure to find a job that pays well right away. This may or may not be the kind of job they really want. I know many people who delay marriage and/or having children because they are waiting to pay off their debt. What good is a college education if it prevents you from having the family you want?

So my message here isn't so much for the college graduate as it is for the high school graduate. As you enter college, make choices that keep you free from debt if possible. Not everyone has to go away to college, not everyone has to go to a private school. You can get a fine education from a local school, even a junior college or vocational school. If your parents will allow you to live at home, don't turn your nose up at that possibility. A college education should prepare you to go out and build up the Kingdom of God, in whatever field you choose. It should not shackle you with debt.

Don't wait for disaster before calling on God

Captain Brian Udell tells a tremendous story. He was a pilot in the Air Force who ejected from his fighter, which was speeding toward earth at 780 miles per hour. His instruments went bad on him during his night flight out over the Atlantic Ocean. It was a training mission and when he lost control of the aircraft, he ejected -- less than a second before the aircraft made impact with the water.

He survived the ejection, although sadly, his co-pilot was killed. Captain Udell now holds a world speed record for successful ejection from an aircraft. You can hear more about Captain Udell's story here.

I got a chance to listen to Captain Udell talk about his amazing ordeal at a business meeting recently. After ejecting, he was lost at sea. He was severely injured and it was really a miracle that a Coast Guard airplane spotted him and was able to facilitate his rescue. 

I share this story with you because Captain Udell told the audience that he prayed while he was floating in the cold ocean water than night. He said he did not consider himself to be a particularly prayerful person, but that night, in that situation, he found meaning in his faith and he prayed. And God answered his prayers.

Sometimes it takes a life-threatening situation to make God meaningful in your work. But let's hope that's not true for most of us. Let's not wait until we are facing death before calling on God for help. He wants to help us all the time. Whatever you do for work -- whether that's flying an airplane or cooking meals or teaching or writing or anything else -- invite God along to your work.  

Take ownership of your work

"A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep." -- John 10:12-13.

We know we should take ownership of our work and this verse from John's Gospel gives us insight about why. If you think of yourself as a hired hand, you may not take your work as seriously as you should. If you think you are only there to make the easy money, you aren't likely to stick around when the going gets tough.

But the world needs people who will stick around when the going gets tough. The world needs people who take ownership of their work. Doing your best means doing work that you are proud of, so proud that you would be happy to own it, that you would be happy to put your name on it. If you are just showing up for the money and really don't care what you do while you are on the job, we can bet the quality of the work will be lacking.

Certainly the story about the Good Shepherd is about more than putting in a good day's work, but the fact that Jesus uses a work analogy to make His point says something about work. Your work is important. The same way that you care for the things you own -- a home, a car, a prized possession -- care for your work.  

A teacher made the difference for 150 students

Erin Gruwell is a teacher who founded an organization called Freedom Writers. Her story is so compelling that M-TV made a movie about her. Check it out here.

Fresh out of college in the mid-1990s, Erin taught in a Long Beach, Calif., high school. Her rough and tumble students were described as the toughest cases. These were 150 kids who weren't supposed to make it. After much trial and error, she connected with the students. Many of them began to take school seriously for the first time in their lives. Over the course of four years of study, many of the students found new hope for their lives. Ultimately, Gruwell and the students published a book made up of entries from their journals. Erin presented her story at a business meeting I attended in Nebraska a few days ago. Her presentation was so compelling I stuck around to meet her afterward.

Teaching professionals might argue over Gruwell's methods, and certainly there has been plenty of blog-chatter about the accuracy of the movie, but I am writing about her here because Gruwell did what she had to in order to do her job. The way she told it, she wanted each of her students to read books written by authors a lot like them. Many of the students were living in what felt like a war zone, a place where drive-by shootings were all too common. So Gruwell wanted the students to know about other teens, like Anne Frank, who lived in traditional wars.

Gruwell said when she went to the administration of the school to buy the books, she was told the students would never read them. She was denied the funds to purchase the books. That's where Gruwell took things into her own hands. She went to a local book store and bought 150 copies of six books. She said she had to max out her credit card and dip into her Christmas savings in order to make the purchase. As she looks back, she said the books turned out to be an important starting point for many of the students.

I like the story because Gruwell poured herself into her work. She didn't let the establishment prevent her from being the teacher she knew she could be.

Many people want things in order to do their work, but they would never pay for any of those things with their own money. Would you? Gruwell wasn't going to let the money for books be the barrier that prevented her from reaching those students.

Bringing God to work means loving those around you. It means not giving up on those around you, even if others have. It means giving your best to those around you. It seems to me that Gruwell did that. I am sure many teachers do something similar every day. It is a great example of the GEO Principle in action.

Social Security and the GEO Principle

The number of stories we see in the news like this one about the Social Security Trust Fund coming under increasing stress is only likely to grow. Eventually, whether we like it or not, we are going to get pushed into a system that will either offer fewer benefits to retirees and/or require greater contribution from working Americans.

The GEO Principle challenges people to rethink the years typically considered for retirement. If work brings you closer to God, then the incentive to quit working as soon as possible diminishes. People who find they are growing closer to God through their work -- typically through interaction with their co-workers or customers -- may find it rewarding to work well beyond age 62or age 65. Of course, a lot of this will be dictated by health. But many people are physically fit enough to work at a good pace through their 70s.

Working later into life means less need to tap into retirement systems such as Social Security. I have always believed that living your faith at work makes you better off, you company better off and the broader community better off. Delaying the needto use Social Security funds might be one important way that living your faith at work betters the broader community.

Want to help out the rookie in the company? Do what Barnabas did.

One of the readings at church this past weekend included the story from Acts of the Apostles (Acts 9:26-30) where Paul wants to talk to the disciples after his dramatic conversion experience. The disciples were understandably weary, recalling Paul's zeal against them earlier. One of the disciples, Barnabas, knew Paul and understood that his conversion was for real. He understood that they no longer needed to fear Paul, but could actually learn from him. So, Barnabas talks to he fellow disciples about Paul. He introduces Paul around to the different disciples and gives him a vote of confidence. This goes a long way with the other disciples and they come to accept him as a true disciple of Christ.

I like this story because it provides a useful example of how we might help others, especially people who might be new to our company or industry. If you know someone who is largely unknown to the larger group, take the time to introduce the new personaround to the established members of the group. Network on his or her behalf. If you know someone's work to be excellent, tell others about it so they can eventually benefit from that work themselves. Barnabas is good at networking and he used his skill to help out a colleague.

Furthermore, Barnabas was probably a pretty good evangelist in his own right, but it turns out his most important job in history was to help make the way for perhaps the greatest evangelist ever. Barnabas probably understood Paul's potential; he knew Paul would probably go on to much greater success than Barnabas ever had himself, yet he still helped Paul. He didn't allow his ego or pride or jealousy to hold him back. He showed Paul around, got him the "in" he needed to get started, and let Paul go from there. This is a good model for us at work. When someone new joins the company, we can show them around, help them get started, give them every advantage we can to help them succeed, and then let them do the rest.

Meeting planners in key spot to fight porn

My friend Mary Ann Kuharski, who runs a prolife apostolate, was in the news recently when she pulled some business away from a hotel because it offered guests access to pay-per-view adult entertainment. I don't know the details of the conversation between the hotel manager and Mary Ann, but the article reported the hotel was disappointed about losing Mary Ann's annual banquet and said that it would review its agreement with the cable company that carries porn channels.

This is a courageous move by Mary Ann; it is a terrific example of a person living the GEO Principle.

Meeting planners are a powerful group of professionals in this country. There are thousands of banquets, conferences, conventions and meetings planned at hotels all over the country every year. What an impact they could have on the culture if they all agreed to limit their business to hotels that refused to carry pornographic television channels!

Pornography is one of the devil's most effective traps. It can ruin your mind, your heart, your soul. Guys who get caught up in a porno habit risk damaging their relationship with their wife, children, and even work colleagues. I know there are a lot of people who want to dismiss pornography as no big deal, but, in fact, it hurts a lot of people.

If you are a meeting planner, consider how you might make the world a better place. Here's how you might start. When vetting a hotel for a meeting, send the manager a questionnaire that inquires about the hotel's capabilities and amenities. One of the questions should be "do you offer hotel guests pornographic entertainment options on television?" It's a non-judgmental question. Let them answer yes or no. Give them a place to add comments after any question.

Or you might take this approach: Provide each prospective hotel a memo outlining your expectations and requirements for hosting the meeting. One requirement might be: "Rooms must offer a safe environment, free of solicitations for pornographic entertainment on television."

A lot of meeting planners will say that all hotels offer porn channels, or they will say that all the good hotels offer all kinds of entertainment. Well, there are some hotels that don't offer pornography. Many of them are featured here.

As a meeting planner, perhaps you will feel obligated in some cases to use a hotel that offers pornographic television, but you will still make an impact by raising the issue during the selection process. If hotel managers never run into meeting planners who ask such questions, they will never consider access to pornography to be a serious issue. But if meeting planners repeatedly express their interest in porn-free hotel rooms, over time more hotel managers will respond.