inspired the people of Judah to rebuild the temple in less than two
months. Appointed governor by King Artaxerxes, Nehemiah could
have enriched himself and used any means at his disposal to complete
the temple. But:
Neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor. But the earlier governors . . . placed a heavy burden on the people and took forty shekels of silver from them in addition to food and wine. But . . . I did not act like that. Instead I devoted myself to the work on this wall . . . we did not acquire any land . . . Furthermore, a hundred and fifty Jews and officials ate at my table . . . Each day one ox, six choice sheep and some poultry were prepared for me . . . in spite of all this, I never demanded the food allotted to the governor, because the demands were heavy on these
people. (Neh. 5:14–18)
Note that Nehemiah refused to appropriate more than he was enti-
tled to. He didn’t even ask for the full amount of what he was entitled
to, but shared what he had with his followers. This was for the sake of
the morale of the people and for rapid completion of the task. Compare
his philosophy to that of Russ Baumgardner, president of Apogee En-
terprises, a glass manufacturer cited as one of the one hundred best
companies to work for in America: ‘‘We pay the taxes that are due. We
don’t pay more than we owe, but we never cheat the government . . .
And as long as we’re on the subject, we never cheat our suppliers, or
our employees, or our customers.’’11
The prophets were the people who kept the nation of Israel ‘‘hon-
est.’’ Again and again the people lost sight of the commandments deal-
ing with honesty and integrity. Again and again, prophets arose to
remind them where ‘‘true north’’ lay on the compass when the whole
nation was taking a moral turn to the south.
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THE BIBLE ON LEADERSHIP
Ezekiel prophesied against false prophets, those with ‘‘false words,
lying visions . . . and utter lying divinations.’’ (Ezek. 13:8–9) Today we
speak of those who ‘‘varnish’’ or ‘‘whitewash’’ the truth by putting a
pleasing patina on top of a weak or faulty structure. Several thousand
years ago, Ezekiel addressed this universal problem using a very similar
analogy:
When a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash, therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall . . . When it falls, you will be destroyed in it . . . So I will spend my wrath against the wall and against those who covered it with whitewash. I will say
to you, ‘‘The wall is gone, and so are those who whitewashed it.’’ (Ezek.
13:10–16)
Ezekiel proclaims there can be no true peace and harmony, either in
business or politics, without true honesty and integrity. ‘‘Whitewashes’’
may seem to work in the short run, but they rarely do in the long run.
In 1985, Federal prosecutors charged GE’s Re-Entry Systems with a
mammoth whitewashing job, claiming they had committed $800,000
in fraud by altering workers’ time cards. At first, GE refused to admit
guilt, but Jack Welch says, ‘‘we got to the point where we concluded
that someone did cheat . . . Until we got to that point, we were chasing
ourselves around in a circle.’’ He might have added that they were just
adding coats of whitewash to a flawed structure. When Welch and GE
finally saw that the problem was one of ‘‘basic integrity,’’ they admitted
their transgressions and set up an ethics program to make sure that the
problem was addressed.12
The times of Jeremiah the prophet were corrupt, perhaps even more
corrupt than America in the late twentieth century! He continuously
spoke out about the lack of integrity that permeated the entire society,
which did not make him a revered guest of honor at the king’s court or
banquets. But a leader who points out other leaders’ lack of integrity is
not necessarily going to be popular in any society or business:
Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, look around and consider,
search through her squares. If you can find but one person who deals hon-
Honesty and Integrity
15
estly and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city. Although they say ‘‘As surely as the Lord lives,’’ still they are swearing falsely. (Jer. 5:1–2) Like the Greek philosopher Diogenes, Jeremiah could not find one
honest man in the entire city. But he reasoned that he had looked only
among the rank and file, not the exalted and moral heads of the metrop-
olis. But, to a man, ‘‘with one accord they too had broken off the yoke
and torn off the bonds. Therefore a lion from the forest will attack
them, a wolf from the desert will ravage them . . . for their rebellion is
great and their backslidings many.’’ ( Jer. 5:5–6)
Back then, the likelihood of an actual lion or ravaging wolf was a
more literal likelihood, and a more compelling metaphor. Today, lack
of honesty and integrity in our business and political leaders has fewer
direct physical consequences, but just as great an impact on the business
and political climate in our country. The ‘‘wolves’’ and ‘‘lions’’ that
attack a leader or company that lacks integrity include loss of purpose,
disaffection, and discouragement from the janitorial closet to the board-
room, and ultimately loss of trust from the consumer of the product or
service.
Compare the long-term effects of Johnson & Johnson’s proactively
and voluntarily removing millions of dollars worth of Tylenol from the
shelves when a tiny number of cyanide-contaminated containers were
discovered with Ford’s begrudging acknowledgement (after many arti-
cles, Congressional hearings, and speeches by Ralph Nader) that the
location of the Mustang’s gas tank had been responsible for many fiery
deaths. Which company acted with more integrity? Which realized bet-
ter short- and long-term economic and public relations results?
The prophet Isaiah lived in an era where honesty and integrity were
not the foundations of the nation of Israel. He saw a vision of the Lord
surrounded by angels, looked down at himself, and realized just how
morally far he and his nation had sunk:
‘‘ ‘Woe to me!’ I cried. ‘I am ruined! I am a man of unclean lips, and
I live among a people of unclean lips.’ ’’ (Isa. 6:5)
Isaiah was probably the ‘‘cleanest-lipped’’ guy in town, but even he
knew he was lacking. In a corrupt organization, all get corrupted. Once
16
THE BIBLE ON LEADERSHIP
a company gets a reputation for ‘‘dirty dealing,’’ even the most honest
of its employees get tarred with the same brush. Perhaps Isaiah had
nowhere else to go, or perhaps he had a supreme dedication to his
people, but he decided to stay and reform the organization, despite the
fact that he was preaching his message as forcefully as he could while
no one seemed to be listening or responding.
Every organization has at least one Isaiah, someone who reminds the
organization of its original mission and principles each time it strays
from them. The wise and courageous leader permits the existence of
‘‘Isaiahs’’ as a safety valve and a warning sign. The wisest leaders protect their Isaiahs from harm or even become Isaiahs themselves. Some organizations even have a position called ‘‘corporate ombudsman,’’ a person
whose role is to challenge the wisdom and integrity of the status quo,
which is supported by those in power but may not always be of long-
term benefit to the organization.
Over 90 percent of the Fortune 500 have a statement of ethics. But
to many, these statements are just writing on the wall. How many oper-
ationalize them like Northrup Grumman, which has an ethics depart-
ment with a full-time staff that trains and counsels employees on the
complex and daunting issues often faced in the aerospace industry?13
Or consider a CEO who takes it upon himself to be his own
‘‘Isaiah.’’ Bill Hewlett of Hewlett-Packard once found the door to a
supply room locked. He didn’t like what that said about the honesty of
the company’s employees, so he snapped the lock open with a bolt
cutter and left a note that said, ‘‘Don’t ever lock this door again.’’14
That act probably communicated more about company integrity than a
hundred speeches at corporate gatherings.
Sir Adrian Cadbury, CEO of a company whose name is associated
with sweetness, not toughness, stands firm in his belief that actions, not
words, are the key measures of integrity. ‘‘The ethical standards of a
company are judged by its actions, not by pious statements of intent put
out in its name.’’ This is probably a direct criticism of companies that
actually hire outside consultants to ‘‘design’’ an ‘‘ethics statement,’’
which has little or nothing to do with the way business is actually con-