John Stanko

“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?" - Luke 16:10-12.

Jesus did not preach a complicated gospel. It was and is easy to understand--impossible to do without God's help, but not hard to grasp. In these verses, Jesus laid out three principles that make for good ethics: 1) be faithful in the little things; 2) be trustworthy in money matters; and 3) handle the possessions of others with integrity. The last of the three includes not just the physical property of others, but also their reputation, gifts, future, time, and career. In other words, the proper handling of people is not just a matter of efficiency or good management and leadership, it is also an ethical matter, equally as important (if not more so) than the proper handling of money.

LEADERSHIP STEP:  Do you see proper management of people as not just a management/leadership matter, but also an ethical one? Your Step today is to meditate on that truth and then assess your ethics where others are concerned. How many people are you mentoring? How many have you helped promote to other positions? Do you waste people's time by being chronically late? Do you use your power to empower others? What can you do to improve?