Matthew 5:33-37
"Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' But I tell you, 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'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one."
You don't have to swear an oath if your word is solid. Jesus is telling us, here, to have character. When we commit to something, follow through and do it. Let your actions be all the assurance people need to know that your word is trustworthy. After all, it is our actions that make our words trustworthy. Unfortunately, in our society too many people don't care about their character. They don't understand the value of trust, and being trustworthy.
There's another part here as well. "Let your 'No' be 'No'". If you have no intention of doing something, say so. Don't commit to something knowing full well that you are not going to do it.
A big part of having character is knowing what to say, "No" to, and then saying it. Committing to things you can't do, or don't intend to follow through with, won't make people happy. All that you will accomplish is letting people down and damaging your character. People will learn not to trust you. Once trust is gone so is the relationship.
Do you have people in your life that you can't trust?
Have you ever been part of an organization that had little to no trust?
Operating in an environment where you can't trust others, and aren't trusted by others is miserable. When everyone in an organization can't be trusted it makes it harder for people to give their very best. Often, when people in an organization can't be trusted it is because there is no accountability. The leader is not holding the bar high equally for everyone.
Once the leadership of an organization stops trusting their people, they leave the realm of leadership and have crossed over into Command-and-Control Corporate Management. This oppressive micro-management approach kills initiative and individual leadership. When people need to get permission for every little thing they stop thinking creatively and taking risks. They stop learning. All they are allowed to do is exactly what they are told to do, and the expectation is to do it exactly how they are told to do it. Management leaves no room for thinking.
The Command-and-Control Management approach destroys businesses and organizations of all types. It does so by first destroying the culture. Once the culture has become toxic, performers leave and the downward spiral accelerates.
Lack of trust is ultimately at the root of this demise. Leaders that do not trust cannot be trusted. When leaders stop trusting their people Command-and-Control Management becomes the default mode. Once this approach kicks into high gear it effectively kills creativity and innovation while placing increased demands on its people.
One of the best ways to combat this is by being trustworthy yourself. Trust is really where leadership starts. You can't influence a positive change in this type of organization if management's lack of trust is justified. You change the culture by influencing it from wherever you are in the organization. First, have character. Be trustworthy. Second, give trust. Act in a way that communicates trust to your co-workers and superiors. Finally, talk about it. Have the courage to sit down with your boss, or your boss's boss and talk about how stifling and damaging the current No-Trust culture is.
The response to this conversation will identify if the organization you are a part of has a Leadership team steering the ship, or a Dictator who controls a Management team. It will be entirely up to you to make this decision. Just as it is entirely up to you to stay with this company or move on before the ship sinks.
Sadly, because of sin many organizations are plagued by Dictator-controlled-Management. This wreaks havoc on the culture of organizations, companies, governments, and societies all across the world. The good news is that you can decide to lead at any time. Godly leadership is what changes all of this. It is up to you to start working today to become a Godly leader so that God can use you to bless the world, His creation.
God bless
Jason Fredrick
You don't have to swear an oath if your word is solid. Jesus is telling us, here, to have character. When we commit to something, follow through and do it. Let your actions be all the assurance people need to know that your word is trustworthy. After all, it is our actions that make our words trustworthy. Unfortunately, in our society too many people don't care about their character. They don't understand the value of trust, and being trustworthy.
There's another part here as well. "Let your 'No' be 'No'". If you have no intention of doing something, say so. Don't commit to something knowing full well that you are not going to do it.
A big part of having character is knowing what to say, "No" to, and then saying it. Committing to things you can't do, or don't intend to follow through with, won't make people happy. All that you will accomplish is letting people down and damaging your character. People will learn not to trust you. Once trust is gone so is the relationship.
Do you have people in your life that you can't trust?
Have you ever been part of an organization that had little to no trust?
Operating in an environment where you can't trust others, and aren't trusted by others is miserable. When everyone in an organization can't be trusted it makes it harder for people to give their very best. Often, when people in an organization can't be trusted it is because there is no accountability. The leader is not holding the bar high equally for everyone.
Once the leadership of an organization stops trusting their people, they leave the realm of leadership and have crossed over into Command-and-Control Corporate Management. This oppressive micro-management approach kills initiative and individual leadership. When people need to get permission for every little thing they stop thinking creatively and taking risks. They stop learning. All they are allowed to do is exactly what they are told to do, and the expectation is to do it exactly how they are told to do it. Management leaves no room for thinking.
The Command-and-Control Management approach destroys businesses and organizations of all types. It does so by first destroying the culture. Once the culture has become toxic, performers leave and the downward spiral accelerates.
Lack of trust is ultimately at the root of this demise. Leaders that do not trust cannot be trusted. When leaders stop trusting their people Command-and-Control Management becomes the default mode. Once this approach kicks into high gear it effectively kills creativity and innovation while placing increased demands on its people.
One of the best ways to combat this is by being trustworthy yourself. Trust is really where leadership starts. You can't influence a positive change in this type of organization if management's lack of trust is justified. You change the culture by influencing it from wherever you are in the organization. First, have character. Be trustworthy. Second, give trust. Act in a way that communicates trust to your co-workers and superiors. Finally, talk about it. Have the courage to sit down with your boss, or your boss's boss and talk about how stifling and damaging the current No-Trust culture is.
The response to this conversation will identify if the organization you are a part of has a Leadership team steering the ship, or a Dictator who controls a Management team. It will be entirely up to you to make this decision. Just as it is entirely up to you to stay with this company or move on before the ship sinks.
Sadly, because of sin many organizations are plagued by Dictator-controlled-Management. This wreaks havoc on the culture of organizations, companies, governments, and societies all across the world. The good news is that you can decide to lead at any time. Godly leadership is what changes all of this. It is up to you to start working today to become a Godly leader so that God can use you to bless the world, His creation.
God bless
Jason Fredrick
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