Courage, Character and Ethics in Jesus

Every year we welcome Holy Week as profound days of reflection, conversion and renewal. Today, I think of Jesus as a role model of courage and character in the light of his mission and the knowledge of the betrayal that awaited Him-- his eventual suffering and death on the Cross. 

It is a leadership journey, starting with 12 apostles that spawned a global organization with one fourth of the world's population as believers and followers. The Church He founded continues to grow and expand after over two thousand years. The recent resignation of Pope Benedict XVI and the orderly selection and assumption of Pope Francis I demonstrates the resilience and continuity of this esteemed institution.

EXAMPLE OF JESUS

How can Jesus' moral courage and example of embracing suffering and pain resonate with us today as leaders of our organizations? I am drawn to the cry of Jesus on the cross, "my God, my God, why have you Forsaken Me?" to reflect on the great Love of a God for me personally and for the whole of humanity. 

Last Holy Tuesday, we had a retreat in our office with Father Yolito Ignacio, spiritual director of San Carlos Seminary, who shared with us Jesus' Forsaken in the writings of Chiara Lubich and his own near death experience. It was to repeatedly say the words of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, "Jesus, thank you for your tender love for me and I love you".

Choosing a subject to write about during Holy Week is quite a challenge. I decided to pursue a discussion of the basics of respect, ethics, integrity and the heart of good business that find their summary in the great Commandment given by Jesus, "That shalt love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind and with all your strength. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as yourself".

RESPECT MATTERS 

Jesus in all his personal encounters and his public teachings showed respect. I think building character demonstrated through respect starts from childhood. I remember when in elementary school, one memorable subject was "Good Manners and Right Conduct", that we hope continues to the current day. One material I read recently entitled, "Respect Matters", impressed me. It was a textbook that encourages learning and practicing respect. 

Why be concerned about teaching, learning and practicing respect? I think it is the seed of future ethical conduct. It forms young people to recognize that behaviors have consequences and the need for them to take responsibility over their own behaviors.

Second, more and more teachers are assuming the role of surrogate parents. How often do we go back to our younger days when our teachers were loved because they acted as role models in the way they behaved. In a sense they shaped our social education, knowing the right way to relate to other people. 

Then undoubtedly in these technology driven times where people have easy access to information and a variety of influences, society needs to revive moral and spiritual values.

MEANING OF RESPECT

Respect matters. Respect is the essence of living in family and community. We owe respect for another person's worth, body, property, or privacy. It is a positive regard for the worth of someone or something. I

It includes respect for the rights and dignity of other people, for laws and authority, for nature and for oneself. Respect embodies appreciation, understanding and esteem, It is the indispensable element in positive relationships among individuals and groups of individuals. 

Who do we respect? First of all we respect people: older people, young people, parents, authority, one's country. We also respect the ideas, opinions and feelings of others, their creative efforts, their property, their abilities, their privacy, our cultural differences and wisdom. Where do we show respect? 

We respect places of worship, we respect nature and other living beings, we respect truth. How do we show respect? We show courtesy, we listen and share with others, not judging but supporting, not acting like a critic but as a coach.

LEADERSHIP VALUES

One essential dimension I admired most was Jesus courage in the face of insurmountable difficulties and extreme pain. It is because He remained steadfast in doing what us right guided by a strong send of Mission and Values. He knew himself.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in his book, "Good Business" talks about leadership, flow and the making of meaning. He talks of leaders as "knowing themselves". It means reflecting seriously on one's own experience, asking, "what are the things that matter most to me? What are the values, I would not compromise under any circumstance?”

VISION BEYOND SELF

Leaders who find meaning and fulfillment believe in goals that benefit not only themselves, they are driven by a personal destiny, a calling. There are three types of calling that are beyond self. 

First, is simply to do one's best, always a better way of doing things, this is call driven towards excellence in products and services. Second , is the calling of helping people, focus is not so much in creating a better product but in helping employees, customers, suppliers and the community to lead a better life. The third calling is to build a better world. It is sense of responsibility that reaches out to the community to the world and the environment. Jesus vision transcended these three callings, it is vision of redemption, salvation and unification.

BUSINESS ETHICS

One of Jesus' virtues is His compassion and mercy. He practiced ethics not just in the sense of not doing harm, but in doing a lot of good. In his lifetime, he healed the sick of both body and soul, he forgave sinners, and provided both material and spiritual food. As business leaders what is the least that we can do?

We can practice and live business Ethics, in the "The Daily Drucker", Peter Drucker reflects that the basic rule is "above all, not knowingly to do harm", this is the responsibility of professional ethics.

Drucker states that integrity of top leadership matters. The spirit of the organization is created from the top. He cites, "The proof of the sincerity and seriousness of management is uncompromising emphasis on integrity of character. Character is not something one can fool people about. 

People may forgive a person for incompetence, ignorance, insecurity or bad manners but they will not forgive a lack of integrity." He further quotes, "Trees die from the top", meaning when top leadership is not committed to integrity, then the whole organization starts to rot and deteriorate.

INTEGRITY

What is integrity?

Oprah Winfrey proposes "Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody's going to know whether you did it or not." 

Stephen Covey,in his book Everyday Greatness explains, "People with integrity are those whose words match their deeds and whose behaviors mirror their values. Their honesty and ethics can be trusted unconditionally. They honor commitment".

GREATEST LEADER OF ALL

As I think of Jesus, His Sacrifice and His Resurrection, I recall Jim Collins, in his book, "Great by Choice" explaining great leaders and companies as those who thrived in uncertainty. He says, " Studying leaders in an extreme environment is like conducting a behavioral experiment... it will show the difference between greatness and mediocrity... outstanding leaders and enterprises achieved spectacular results in a particularly turbulent environment, full of events that were uncontrollable, fast moving, uncertain and potentially harmful. 

Was this not the environment when Jesus died? And yet He has become the greatest of leaders, continuing to touch people's minds, hearts and souls with fervor today.

A blessed Easter to all our readers.