by Collins

Environment
            Environments within society are imperative to the outcomes of lifestyles and most importantly humanity.  As stated in Romans 12-2 (NIV), “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is his good, pleasing and perfect will.”  This scripture is imperative in be vital in environments both one is accustomed to and/or the one not accustomed to.  The two environment for discussion involve confronting and not confronting brutal facts, which both present are in today’s society.  

           The first environment having experience with involves a third world country, which villages did not confront the brutal facts, where the people and the truth were not heard do to the oppression of warlords/government.  The villages in multiple African countries depended on humanitarian aid to help survive deriving from bread, water and medicines.  These people didn’t have the education nor knowledge to know the truth do to scares tactics and inhumane activity of warlords.  The villagers only contained faith and the survival of the fittest mentality to live the only life they knew poverty.

           The second environment I currently have experience with is livening in the United States, which brutal facts are ascertained and have tremendous opportunity to be heard derived from the United States Constitution.  The United States Constitution derived from Christian beliefs provides opportunity for one to be heard and truths to be given or obtained.  The brutal facts of sin, hate, and history are confronted with voices heard by both society and the world.  The freedoms this environment provides, allows for opportunity and goals to be reached.

           The contrast teaches us how to construct an environment where truth is heard by learning from other societies within environments that cannot bear the truth.  According to CNN, “The solution lies in good, ethical leadership, strong and enforceable laws against corruption, severe sanctions for corruption crimes underpinned by a national culture of promoting ethics from family to national level” (Veselinovic, 2016).  The environment created to give opportunity without corruption along with Christian beliefs allows for truth to be heard backed by a structured government and Constitution.  Learning from mistakes and utilizing scripture to better self and society is vital in constructing a positive environment allow for truth to be heard.

The Christian Worldview helps develop this environment by trying to live by God’s world and upholding the scripture of the Bible to portray this positive environment of allowing truth to be told along with the peoples voices being heard utilizing quality ethical behavior.  As David stated “The Lord reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment.  He rules the world in righteousness and judges the people with equity.  The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.  Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord have never forsaken those who seek you” (Psalm 9:7-10 NIV).  

The environment justified by the Christian Worldview relates to the ethical components of the Meese and Ortmeier text by the way a society’s ethical behavior relates to the scripture.  According to the text “ethics is learned sporadically from early childhood through adulthood as people acquire values and participate in societal system” (Ortmeier & III, 2010, p. 59).  This is vital to the Christian Worldview in regards to the product of the environment being raised with Christian values and code of conducts.  As ethics is imperative to Christians, numerous challenges are apparent in culturally diverse environments without Christian views (p.59).  As stated in Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.”

References

 by Pierce

Communication should be open and ongoing and never one-way. Often when a person feels they will not be listed to or given an opportunity to be heard they will stop communicating. Additionally, communication needs to be truthful. Communications that hedge on the truth by being ambiguous or equivocal lead to unethical communication (Meese & Ortmeier, 2010). Ethical communication flows from the top to the bottom in organizations (Wray-Bliss, 2013). Individual ethics are on display in every conversation, in every communication, and every interaction that a person engages in. Although it may be uncomfortable confronting the truth, the consequences of denying the brutal facts can be more severe. Collins (2001) stated one of the distinctive forms of disciplined thoughts for the great companies was their focus on the brutal facts of reality.  Collins goes on to say that each company had to face the brutal facts and make adjustments for company gains. As supervisors and leaders, we must confront the brutal facts of our employees’ and subordinates’ actions.

As a supervisor, I have had situations where I had to take action without all of the facts. This led to difficulties in future conversations with the subordinate(s) who felt they were not given the opportunity to tell their side of what happened and to defend themselves. Additionally, a breakdown in communication resulted which led to a lack of confidence and trust. Sitting down with the affected officer and having an open and candid conversation where all the facts were “laid on the table”, we were able to repair much of the damage that had been cause, and make huge strides at restoring trust and confidence. Furthermore, I was able to re-evaluate myself as a supervisor and make adjustments in my management style to ensure I do a better job of listening and gathering facts before taking impulsive actions. 

There have been other times I have had subordinates tell me they did not like the way things were being done.  As a young line supervisor this was sometimes difficult for me to accept. As I grew and matured as a leader I came to understand that I needed to empathize with how they felt and make changes if possible. However, when things could not be changed, my subordinates knew why and understood I was still concerned about their opinions.

As Christians, we must rely on God and know that He is in control. Even when we do not know all of the facts, we know who is in control. We trust God will do what He says which will be best for us. Moses and the Israelites found this out as they went to take the land of Canaan (Numbers 13, Holy Bible).  Spies came back and said the land was good, but inhabited by giants. Only Caleb and Joshua said they could take the land with God on their side. The brutal truth was they were outnumbered and the Canaanites were larger than them. However, their vision of taking the land was based on the Word of God saying it was their land to take.  We know when we follow God’s word everything will work out the way He intends. We are told in Romans 8:28 (NKJV) “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those that are called according to His purpose.”