| Better a poor man who walks in his
integrity
than he who is crooked in his ways and rich.
Without knowledge even zeal is not good;
and he who acts hastily, blunders.
A man's own folly upsets his way,
but his heart is resentful against the LORD.
Wealth adds many friends,
but the friend of the poor man deserts him.
The false witness will not go unpunished,
and he who utters lies will not escape.
Many curry favor with a noble;
all are friends of the man who has something to give.
All the poor man's brothers hate him;
how much more do his friends shun him!
He who gains intelligence is his own best friend;
he who keeps understanding will be successful.
If you beat an arrogant man, the simple learn a lesson;
if you rebuke an intelligent man, he gains knowledge.
He who mistreats his father, or drives away his mother,
is a worthless and disgraceful son.
If a son ceases to hear instruction,
he wanders from words of knowledge.
An unprincipled witness perverts justice,
and the mouth of the wicked pours out iniquity.
Rods are prepared for the arrogant,
and blows for the backs of fools. (Proverbs 19:1-8;
25-29)
On many occasions my father told me that you do not
command respect, you earn it. Whether you are in sales
or another type of management, there are several principles
you must use to become a successful leader.
The first is that you should never ask anyone to do
anything you are not willing or able to do yourself.
Many managers ask their people to do things their employees
may believe to be unreasonable. The best way to disprove
that notion is to be ready to go out and do it yourself,
if necessary. In such areas as these, you earn or lose
the respect of the people under you each and every day
you go to work.
If you are going to ask your employees to come early
and stay late, then you must be willing to do the same.
If you’ve asked your employees to come in at seven
o’clock and you come in at ten, your employees
see hypocrisy in your management style. If you come
in every day at six o’clock, then you have earned
the right to ask your employees to come in at seven.
If you stay till eight o’clock at night, then
you have earned the right to ask your employees to stay
until seven.
The best way to lead is by example. If your employees
see you putting in extra hours and the extra effort
to get a task accomplished, then they will more readily
want to respect your wishes. Always open up and lock
up.
One of the best pieces of management advice I ever
received was when my employer, Ron Borchelt, said, “It
takes no talent or ability at all to fire anyone; true
talent is in your ability to teach someone how to be
successful.”
Fewer people would be fired if we as managers all looked
at another’s dismissal and their failure to succeed
as our own personal failure. Before you fire anyone,
you must ask yourself, “Have I done everything
possible to teach and train this person?”
If your brother, sister, or best friend were to come
to work for you, what kind of attention would they receive?
Would you allow them to fail as easily as you would
allow others?
You are only as good as the people you have surrounded
yourself with. When you treat every new employee as
you would treat your relative or best friend, you will
discover successful people in your midst.
We must be cautious never to become callous to turnover.
While turnover is a part of the sales business, we must
do everything possible to keep the people we already
have. If you become callous to turnover, then you cannot
expand or grow, because growth calls for the development
of productive new members of your team.
The sweatshirt carries the inscription: “There
they go! I must catch them, for I am their leader!”
If you lead by example, that is eventually what will
happen. Isn’t that the way the kingdom of God
was designed, with each generation intended to eventually
surpass its leaders?
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