Stand By Your Principles

Just read over this post that I shared back in 2020, if you watch the video you will note the masks as a key aspect of that. It came during a time when I was battling this very idea and sparked this message that I just had to re-share. Enjoy and let me know what you think about this re-post.

Now before you stop reading because you don’t want to hear what God has to say, let me say that this directly applies to the business world just as much as it does to the spiritual world. It is one that I’ll be honest I had to look back up, because my brain is just too consumed with so many things going on, but one that I took copious notes on to ensure that I could easily recall it again. With that said the title of the message was “Being is greater than done.” 

Without going into the spiritual context of the message, the focus was on Job. If you know anything about the Book of Job, it is about a man who went through great turmoil but rose at the end to be greater than he was before it all and more than he probably imagined. With that as the backdrop now, you can get the basic idea behind the message, but the main focus I want to drill into is who are you and what you stand for.

As you continue to “grow up" there are certain things that you can probably say are keywords that describe you.  For instance, if you ask me, I would tell you integrity, faith, and commitment.  These are three foundational elements of who I am. No matter what happens in my life, these are words that I believe will always hold, both in my personal life and in my work life.  People at work generally know me for my drive and ability to deliver projects along with my ability to just speak what is on my mind or what I’m feeling.  What happens though for some is that our leaders, our company culture, or something else can derail us and stop us from being who we are. We become afraid to speak up or try to be something we are not.

There is much going on in the day and age surrounding bringing ourselves to work and I believe we need to stand by our core principles just like the message here to always be who you are. If you cannot be who you are then you need to do a check on why you are there.  It takes way more energy and focus to be something/someone you are not than to just be your full self.

To summarize the message, this great Pastor went on to add more context to this, that not only is being greater than done, but further becoming is greater than being. If you continue to stand by your principles, be who you have always been, and continue, you will ultimately grow to be stronger. My principles have not changed in my 20+ years with the company.  I’ve always spoken my mind, stayed true (and in many cases truer to my faith), and continued to stay committed to my team and group, no matter how I felt. Through the years, I may have had a few slow periods of growth, but my commitment led me to the next phase in my career and ultimately made me stronger along the way.

Be who you are, stand by your principles, and continue growing beyond what even you imagined. God intends for all of us to be more like Christ, we cannot imagine ourselves being that perfect, but he can.

Recommendations:

If you would like to hear the full spiritual message - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITlEvb9EdnE

So many good podcasts I have listened to over the last few weeks, as well as a couple of books, here are a few that stand out.

Inspire Your Life with Simon T. Bailey by John Eades

Entre Leadership - #384 - The Toxicity of Ego with Jocko Willink

Book - The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni