Action: Do you have any colleagues who are truly evil? Is there anything you can do about it?
Who is truly evil out there? Bernie Madoff? He probably comes close. But I don't think that this is really the question, for me, here. You have already seen me use words like "cardinal", "orthodoxy", "treat others...", etc. So I am obviously thinking of theological constructs as I write this daily blog. And, I am a believer in the Gospels, and I am a deep student of Islam and Judaism. My familiarity with other theologies is somewhat less, but adequate.
I suppose I "fall back" on theology when it comes to ethics and ethical behavior in the "real" world. Am I acting in a way, in this situation that would clearly identify me to those watching as a follower of Christ? Is my light shining, as I make decisions about retention, contracts, customer service, product design? Do I have the Beatitudes in mind? Let me confess right here, that I often fail. Am I evil?
I often counsel Christian mentees who are starting a business, especially those going into non-profits (or missions), to be sure that they are working for the Glory of God, but to not show intolerance to others, who may believe differently. Rather than founding a "Christian Business", I often bring them to the conclusion that a business "operated by Christians" allows for much more opportunity to serve everyone in need.
I have come across one evil man. He was the COO in a business where I had very good relationships with many senior people and the CEO. I had already done five or six big program implementations. One had failed and one was in trouble. The cause was this man. His Ego was so overblown, that no matter what the outcome for the business, he did all he could to stop progress, obviously with some significant success. He had become visible in his destructive efforts, and was attracting criticism. Because the CEO was close to him, he had not seen his evil intent yet, but was about to. The funny thing was that there was no talking to this man... in his mind he was righteous. He was finally removed, and sued the company.
Most of the time tough, I find that men are not evil... they may be "acting" in such a way, but bringing them back to the nature of what must be done, or reminding them of consequences of their disruption most often allows them to overcome the temptations.
If anybody has read any useful theological business books, let me know.
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