[UNKNOWN]: Thank you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Power of Being Relentless Ethics Podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm Michael Hanks, and today we're going to be talking about a critical intersection, balancing limitless innovation with unwavering moral clarity.
[SPEAKER_00]: I call it ethics limitless thinking without losing ground.
[SPEAKER_00]: Many of us face moments where the pressure to succeed tips us to cut corners, we might think, just this once the ingestifies the means, we blur the lines, the steps out is all about avoiding the trap of rationalization under the cold behavior.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's about understanding that true, relentless thinking does not mean abandoning your principles.
[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, true innovation requires a foundation of rock solid ethics.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to explore how to push boundaries in your career, your business, and your life, while we're remaining deeply rooted in faith and moral clarity.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's begin by really exploring the drive for innovation.
[SPEAKER_00]: Why it matters so much?
[SPEAKER_00]: Human beings were creators.
[SPEAKER_00]: We share in the creative nature of God himself from the beginning.
[SPEAKER_00]: God told Abraham to fill the earth and subdue it.
[SPEAKER_00]: and have dominion, and that's Genesis 128.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is a calling to Stuart, to nurture, and to bring forth newness.
[SPEAKER_00]: Innovation is a way we honor that gift.
[SPEAKER_00]: Look throughout history, and you'll see that society's greatest leaps forward were sparked by people who refuse to accept the status quo.
[SPEAKER_00]: Think about Thomas Edison.
[SPEAKER_00]: Constantly refining,
[SPEAKER_00]: and getting set back until the light bulb finally stayed lit.
[SPEAKER_00]: But what often gets celebrated is half the story.
[SPEAKER_00]: We hear about the late nights, the breakthroughs, the industry's changed forever.
[SPEAKER_00]: We don't always talk about the questions that haunted these innovators.
[SPEAKER_00]: Am I doing this right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Is this ambition serving others or just myself?
[SPEAKER_00]: What lines should not be crossed even for a noble goal?
[SPEAKER_00]: These are not concerns for the week.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're a sign of a truly mature, relentless soul.
[SPEAKER_00]: Think about what happens when our drive for progress, outpaces our commitment to goodness.
[SPEAKER_00]: Every day the world shouts when it any cost.
[SPEAKER_00]: And Silicon Valley, there's a saying, move fast and break things.
[SPEAKER_00]: But when we're not careful what gets broken isn't just
[SPEAKER_00]: It's just integrity, sometimes even our own spirits.
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you've witnessed this challenge yourself.
[SPEAKER_00]: Perhaps you've been part of a team desperate to make a deadline and someone suggests, let's fudge the numbers for now.
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll fix them later, or maybe you've seen a later exalt innovation while quickly, quietly ignoring their company's score values.
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you've personally wrestled with whether to speak up about an idea that could help many, but might also hurt a few.
[SPEAKER_00]: These dilemmas are everywhere, and they force us to ask what keeps our relentless ambition from becoming reckless ambition?
[SPEAKER_00]: St. Paul gives us a profound reminder in the letters to the Romans, chapter 12, verse 2, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
[SPEAKER_00]: Paul's message could be clear.
[SPEAKER_00]: We are called to something higher.
[SPEAKER_00]: The world's values may shift in flex, but our minds must be continually renewed.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we can discern what is truly good, not just what is popular or profitable.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, let's look at a practical scenario here, okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: I want you to imagine that you're in a product design meeting, okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: The team's eager to launch a new feature, you know that skipping one last safety check would save a week and while the investors.
[SPEAKER_00]: but it's moving fast worth the risk.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's look at another example.
[SPEAKER_00]: Say you're a medical professional.
[SPEAKER_00]: Facing pressure to book more procedures.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's temptation to overstate the urgency of certain cases.
[SPEAKER_00]: In that moment, you'll listen to your conscious or the quarterly report.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, this is where a moral baseline comes in.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, it's a set of non-negotiable principles established before the pressure cooker heats up.
[SPEAKER_00]: Think of a, think of it like a pilot, running through a safety checklist before every flight.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, never skipping steps because one shortcut can mean disaster.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you wait until the moment of temptation to set your limits, odds are good, you'll be swept away by adrenaline or fear or pride.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, here's a, here's a, here's a visual, okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: Picture your drive for innovation as a soaring kite.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, your ideas, your ambitions, your visions allow it to lift higher and see further than before.
[SPEAKER_00]: But just as a kite, must have a string to other to it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Your ethics must always be what keeps your dreams both flying and safe.
[SPEAKER_00]: Cut the string, the moral compass, and the kite, flight, hands and chaos.
[SPEAKER_00]: in a spiritual meaning, our tether is formed in prayer, reflection, spiritual direction, and community.
[SPEAKER_00]: Consider Daniel on the lion's den.
[SPEAKER_00]: Daniel's relentless commitment to innovation, praying openly, organizing and leading, was always balanced by unbreakable conviction.
[SPEAKER_00]: Even in crisis, he did not compromise on what was right.
[SPEAKER_00]: None of this means that ethics and innovation are in opposition.
[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, the most exciting breakthroughs often come when we embrace constraint as a source of creativity, artist have done this for centuries.
[SPEAKER_00]: The boundaries of a cannabis, or the structure of a son at force, new ways of expression.
[SPEAKER_00]: For us, ethical boundaries can actually spur us to bolder, more sustainable solutions.
[SPEAKER_00]: So as you foster innovation in your own sphere, ask yourself, have I defined my non-negotiable moral commitment?
[SPEAKER_00]: And my willing to speak up when the push for results clashes with my conscience.
[SPEAKER_00]: Do I have voices in my head faithful friends or mentors who engage me to hold the line?
[SPEAKER_00]: As the book of Psalms says, your word is a lamp in my feet and a light in my path.
[SPEAKER_00]: Group, your pursuits in the light of God's word and the wisdom of tradition.
[SPEAKER_00]: Move boldly, but never blindly seek what is new, but honor what is good.
[SPEAKER_00]: Where in your life are you being called to both sore higher and stand firmer?
[SPEAKER_00]: How might relitless thinking look different when illuminated by your faith?
[SPEAKER_00]: We start by examining the drive for innovation.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right.
[SPEAKER_00]: I want you to understand something, guys.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can still be an innovator, okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: And drive and won't results, okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: And work hard.
[SPEAKER_00]: But if you don't have core values in your life, you need a set of core values, okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: Just like you see businesses with that have core values, okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: you need core values personally that you operate with in.
[SPEAKER_00]: And when you stick to those core values, you know what you're gonna do.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're gonna align the right people, the people that can help, the people that can grow you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: What happens a lot of times that I've seen with people and people that I've mentored,
[SPEAKER_00]: When things crash, basically, is you don't build that stable foundation when you start cutting corners and negotiate with yourself and fudge in numbers and all is, yes, at first, nobody knows it's a cover up, but eventually it is all going to come to light.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, just like the Bible tells us what's done and the dark will eventually be brought to the light.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, yesterday I was in a sermon in a church and, you know, our pastor told us.
[SPEAKER_00]: He said, look, he said, I'm not perfect myself, but he said, we've got to get to a point where maybe we've fallen away from from God and we've started committing sins.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he said, let's just stop this today, so let's get in this altar.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's.
[SPEAKER_00]: And let's just go after God as hard as we went after that sin we were in, meaning that we can always turn around.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because once we take that sin and act like we're quick trying to hide it, which we can add it from God.
[SPEAKER_00]: He knows everything.
[SPEAKER_00]: But we go to that altar and we bring it to the light, bring it to Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: We can watch him move through us.
[SPEAKER_00]: OK. Let's move on to the next point.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to talk about the most dangerous enemy of moral clarity, rationalization.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nobody wakes up in just to silence, I'm just going to ruin my integrity today.
[SPEAKER_00]: Unethical behavior rarely, it doesn't some cases, but rarely starts with massive fraud or complete betrayal.
[SPEAKER_00]: It starts with a whisper that says everyone else is doing it or I'll just do it until the company gets back on its feet rationalization is the mind's way of making something wrong look right.
[SPEAKER_00]: We tell ourselves a story we convince ourselves that our specific situation is unique exit from the rules.
[SPEAKER_00]: The book of Proverbs speaks directly to the Slow Drift Proverbs chapter 4, verses 25 through 27.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let your eyes look directly forward and your gaze be straight before you keep straight the path of your feet and all your ways will be sure.
[SPEAKER_00]: Do not swirl to the right or to the left, turn your foot away from evil, do not swirl to the right or to the left.
[SPEAKER_00]: Rationalization is a swirl.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is the slight degree off-center that over time lands you miles away from your destination.
[SPEAKER_00]: Listen, this is what happens, okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: This is why all these companies, you see about with all that people get in charge with them bezzlement and, you know, unethical behavior and making, fudge and numbers all, okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: This is how it starts small, okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: So then you've done something wrong, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Now you've got to cover that wrong now.
[SPEAKER_00]: So now you've got to make, now you've got to make it
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, now you've got to do something bigger to cover that up.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's just like a lot of us were told when we were children when our parents would tell us about lying and telling the truth, okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: When you lie, you have to tell another lie to cover up that lie.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then another lie to cover up that lie.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then before long, you've told so many lies, you don't even know what's going on.
[SPEAKER_00]: To where you could just tell the truth.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I go back to my time at the temporary agency.
[SPEAKER_00]: They had a meeting every day to 11 o'clock, okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: So this one client I was in.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I'm back here working and they would always just tell them things, they would tell little lies.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, eventually what would happen is, well, we'll just tell them this time, it's time.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it just kept on, and they ended up having to keep a notebook of how often they were doing this, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, one day,
[SPEAKER_00]: They couldn't find that notebook where they were writing down.
[SPEAKER_00]: They lost it, something happened.
[SPEAKER_00]: They couldn't find it in the meetings fixed to start and they're all in panic.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, they start the meeting.
[SPEAKER_00]: God gets on there, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: They're talking.
[SPEAKER_00]: He says, I'm just gonna come by and see you guys next week.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, he gives them a day.
[SPEAKER_00]: He says, I'm gonna fly and I'll come see it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I wanna see your production plan.
[SPEAKER_00]: I wanna see your operations, how things are working.
[SPEAKER_00]: He says, you know, I'm really trying to work with you guys here.
[SPEAKER_00]: So he shows up a day early, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: They're scrambling, he's there.
[SPEAKER_00]: All the he's there, he's here, he's here.
[SPEAKER_00]: So basically it log-sortial, he goes out there, sees everything, sees that, you know, they've been untruthful with him, he sets down, basically goes in the ultimate.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm to, you know, to get telling the truth, get right with him and all that.
[SPEAKER_00]: But that was a perfect example, you know, to, you know, not just in our personal life, but when we bring that into business, I mean, you're at there, you run relationships with your customers and your clients,
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, that that one particular place, you know, had a horrible reputation of just lying out right, and it wasn't just to that customer.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was hard to impagency.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it got to the point where I was having to record what they were telling me because they were sending emails behind my back to my boss.
[SPEAKER_00]: outrageous like, why are they doing this and not trying to work with us?
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think a lot of it was that they were covering up stuff on the inside.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think it started small, okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: Just like I was saying, and then they had to tell they had to cover that up and then cover that up.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then before long, you know, but if you just bring it out to the light, you know, I've done that before with clients.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hey, look,
[SPEAKER_00]: I messed up, I understand this calls a really big mess.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I want to make this right.
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to fix it.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, they're not happy a lot of times.
[SPEAKER_00]: But you know what?
[SPEAKER_00]: Once they've had a minute to process that, most of the time, they come back to me and they say, hey, look, I appreciate you coming with us and then making this right.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I want to talk about how rationalization works over time.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, psychologists call this the slippery slope or the foot in the door phenomena.
[SPEAKER_00]: Once you permit one small wrongdoing, it becomes far easier to permit the next.
[SPEAKER_00]: Imagine you're in charge of a project, you miss a deadline and quickly back data report to avoid trouble.
[SPEAKER_00]: The world doesn't end, but next time a bigger shortcut feels more acceptable.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's look at,
[SPEAKER_00]: the corporate scandal of end-run, okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, what about vote swagging's emissions testing or financial crisis of 2008, okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: It's rarely one big decision that brought everything crashing down, okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: Nearly always it's a series of minor ethical missteps just to fight along the way.
[SPEAKER_00]: Small bins and the rules become habits and soon the line between right and wrong is obliterated.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's bring this closer to home.
[SPEAKER_00]: What little rules do you rationalize is in your own lives?
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe we exaggerate our work hours to look productive.
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe a student justifies copy and homework because everyone else does it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe we stretch the truth on a resume or help ourselves to office a plaza thing and it doesn't matter.
[SPEAKER_00]: Those choices seem small.
[SPEAKER_00]: that they train our minds and hearts to accept dishonesty as normal.
[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus made it clear and Luke 1610, whoever's faithful and very little is faithful all the way much, and whoever's dishonest and very little is dishonest, also in much.
[SPEAKER_00]: Our tiny rationalization shape our character in ways that we'll echo when bigger temptations arrive.
[SPEAKER_00]: What calls us as irrationalize fear?
[SPEAKER_00]: That's why people rationalize fear.
[SPEAKER_00]: go back to the one client, I told you I was in the, uh, temporary agency.
[SPEAKER_00]: The only reason they started lying to that customer was fear of losing that contract.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's it.
[SPEAKER_00]: That one simple thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I've eventually heard that I haven't confirmed, so this is just kind of a, and it may not be true, it might be true, I don't know.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've heard that that customer eventually pulled away.
[SPEAKER_00]: And from knowing what I know from the inside, I don't blame them.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes, even loyalty plays.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hey, I got to protect my team, even if it means covered up a mistake.
[SPEAKER_00]: But rationalization erodes us from within.
[SPEAKER_00]: It exchanges the greater good for immediate relief.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: We have to practice aggressive self honesty.
[SPEAKER_00]: When you find yourself explaining a decision, or I'm sorry, when you find yourself explaining a way of decision, pulse.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you have to work hard to justify an action, it's because your conscience is waving a red flag, consider the language you use.
[SPEAKER_00]: Words like strategic positioning, instead of lying, words like aggressive accounting, instead
[SPEAKER_00]: We sanitize our language.
[SPEAKER_00]: We sanitize our conscious.
[SPEAKER_00]: We must call things what they are.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we live in a society that doesn't do that anymore.
[SPEAKER_00]: And a lot of it is because we live in a society where we've had to change our language because we might hurt somebody's feelings.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, America has over a population of 250,
[SPEAKER_00]: You cannot avoid stepping on people's toes, you're going to.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now don't get me wrong.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's things that we know not to say, OK, to people.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, there's racial slurs and things like that that we know not to say.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm not saying go around just because we have freedom of speech in this country and say things like that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because you know what?
[SPEAKER_00]: Freedom of speech and the right to exercise freedom of speech
[SPEAKER_00]: knowingly degrades somebody.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a big difference there.
[SPEAKER_00]: But when we think of things like this right here, strategic positioning, no, that's lying.
[SPEAKER_00]: However, you can do strategic positioning if it's not lying and you're setting yourself up for better, that's fine.
[SPEAKER_00]: But if you know you're lying and you say, I'm just going to call this strategic positioning, you know it's wrong, you did wrong.
[SPEAKER_00]: Same thing with aggressive accounting.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hey, you know what if you're being aggressive and you're watching numbers and and you're making sure reports are done right.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, but if you're fudge in numbers and all that.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's not aggressive accounting.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's called stealing.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm just one of these people that I don't tip to around words.
[SPEAKER_00]: I call them.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm straight to the point.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm direct and I want people to be that way with me.
[SPEAKER_00]: Some people don't like this about me either because when you ask me a question, I'm going to give you a yes or no answer, I'm not going to give you an explanation.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, however, if we're in a business meeting and we're working out a deal or something like that, I understand I may have to, you may have to kind of get into that a little bit.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just to show your customer that, hey, I can do this.
[SPEAKER_00]: I can't make this amount of products, okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: But it's far mostly with me, it's yes and no.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I don't expect an explanation out of you when I ask you something.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because number one, most of the time, when I asked somebody something and immediately, they just start giving me all this extra information.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's just right there.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's meet now number one.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're trying to manipulate me.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I'll cut you out.
[SPEAKER_00]: Those were the car salesman one time.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was looking to get my wife up.
[SPEAKER_00]: They called, we're looking around and yeah, that's the guy for a Vendom, where I was going to call my insurance and see what the insurance would be.
[SPEAKER_00]: First time texting him and he said, well, where are you going to start shopping me?
[SPEAKER_00]: Sounds like, man, let me just call him.
[SPEAKER_00]: Call him and he said the same thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I call their corporate office.
[SPEAKER_00]: I reported it and they haven't got with corporate and they're telling me they're like, well, we easily recommend that our customers do call different relationships to to try and find a better deal.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thought okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: to not think about what you're doing.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I'm not saying go out there and but he give me a long explanation about how much money I was saving, how much money they were going to be losing in all that.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm just here to tell you right now, this is why I don't buy a lot of sales
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm not knocking all sales and there's some really good salesmen out there that'll be straight up direct and to the point with you, but I've got one local dealership here that I've done business with in town actually both of my big My vehicle came from there and I couldn't I try to do business locally I do I do but sometimes it doesn't but you know when You know I've had these these salesmen I mean they were trying everything to get me about the old there was an employee that worked there that I knew and
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't even know how they did this, but they're going to her with all these different, so he's been here here here here and here looking for Vika.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't even know how they found it out, honestly.
[SPEAKER_00]: But they basically harassed her to the point she left and all it took, only us was just to talk to me and be direct with me.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I kept finding little things in their way.
[SPEAKER_00]: They weren't being honest when they thought they were trying to get me to buy it right away and ended up there was that vehicle didn't have an issue with it.
[SPEAKER_00]: There were some scratches on it.
[SPEAKER_00]: There was, they'd been using it.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was a loaner.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't know that.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, about taking my time and not just buying it directly like that, I was able to just find more.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I eventually went to another dealership and found a better deal.
[SPEAKER_00]: But, you know, when we're trying to get like that,
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, when somebody's trying to push you like that and they're not giving you a direct yes and no answer and they're going around the bush and they're trying to push your buttons to see where, you know, that that's what you got to look for right there.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know I got a little off subject, but I want you guys to understand that like I'm not one of these people I go out and let one of these salespeople talk me into something.
[SPEAKER_00]: especially if i'm buying something like a vehicle that expensive i want to know who you are cannot trust you and i mean i've seen every i've seen a lot of a lot of issues with salesman and you know it's because of a lot of it's because they're on commission they're trying to make that quick dollar but i've seen a lot of times with people
[SPEAKER_00]: that start slow and build their business slower through the car industry.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's how they make, they actually ended up having better business and build a more customer's.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, man.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, no, I've got a little off subject there, but just, man, it's just like Proverbs says, keep it a simple yes and no answers and things.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, here's the something I want to, here's the exercise, okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, when making a tough decision, imagine explaining your choice to a child.
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you admire respect, my dear children?
[SPEAKER_00]: And if you don't have children, thank you, black, you're nice enough you what they would think.
[SPEAKER_00]: When you put actions into a plain language of a child, you find it much harder to dress up a bad decision and get intentions.
[SPEAKER_00]: Surround yourself with people who would tell you the truth.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you're the smartest or most powerful person in the room and no one dares challenge you, you're in a vulnerable position.
[SPEAKER_00]: You need peers, mentor, spiritual directors who will look you and I and say, you're swirving and fight accountability, give others permission to call you out, okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: You have to be humble.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's talk about moral licensing.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes we perform a virtuous act.
[SPEAKER_00]: We give ourselves permission to cut quarters of this where I pulled an all-nighter to deliver that project.
[SPEAKER_00]: So taking a home, so taking a home a little office supplies no big deal.
[SPEAKER_00]: The inner trade-off can be insidious.
[SPEAKER_00]: Scripture warns us against a divided heart.
[SPEAKER_00]: James 122, be the doers of the world and not merely hears or deceives themselves.
[SPEAKER_00]: We are accountable, not just for big heroic moments of virtue, but for consistent faithfulness and every decision.
[SPEAKER_00]: Practical steps to resist rationalization.
[SPEAKER_00]: Name what's happening.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you catch yourself thinking, I'll make it up later.
[SPEAKER_00]: Paul's an exam in your motivations.
[SPEAKER_00]: Pray for knowledge.
[SPEAKER_00]: Psalm 139, 23 through 24 says, search me, oh Lord, I know my heart.
[SPEAKER_00]: Test me and know my thoughts.
[SPEAKER_00]: See if there is any wicked in me and lead me in the way I've been lasting.
[SPEAKER_00]: Make this your prayer before big and small decisions.
[SPEAKER_00]: Keep short accounts.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you slip, confess quickly.
[SPEAKER_00]: Don't let rationalizations accumulate into way hardened conscience.
[SPEAKER_00]: Remember, who you represent?
[SPEAKER_00]: Your choices reflect not only you, but on your organization, your community, your family, and your faith.
[SPEAKER_00]: Visualize the ripple effects.
[SPEAKER_00]: Every act of honesty, strengthens your integrity and encourages others to act honestly too.
[SPEAKER_00]: And firstly, every active rationalization determines the trust that communities and workplaces depend on.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's have a moment of reflection.
[SPEAKER_00]: Think about an area of your life where you're getting quarters.
[SPEAKER_00]: Justifying something questionable or telling yourself it's not a big deal.
[SPEAKER_00]: And fight God into that space.
[SPEAKER_00]: Ask for the courage to turn around before a small swarve steers you completely all of course.
[SPEAKER_00]: We've explored the tension between innovation and ethics and the subled dangers of rationalization.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now let's dive into how we can build practical lasting framework that empowers us to pursue what is possible without losing who we are along the way.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's start by acknowledging that being relentless is only about isn't only about perseverance, it's about alignment.
[SPEAKER_00]: To achieve both limitless thinking and moral ground, and we must bring every part of our life into harmony with our deepest values and faith.
[SPEAKER_00]: It comes down to where you build your foundation.
[SPEAKER_00]: In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 7, verse 24, everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like wise man who builds his house on a rock.
[SPEAKER_00]: Storms are guaranteed.
[SPEAKER_00]: They come in the marketplace and the lab and then board room and classroom.
[SPEAKER_00]: in the family and the heart, the house built on sand, shortcuts, compromise, shifting principles, can't stay.
[SPEAKER_00]: The house built on the rock of God's Word on ethical conviction won't do or any test.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's get practical.
[SPEAKER_00]: How do we build this house?
[SPEAKER_00]: Number one, integrate your faith into your daily work.
[SPEAKER_00]: Ethics can be
[SPEAKER_00]: They're not going to be a checklist, okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: Dested off in a crisis.
[SPEAKER_00]: Instead, let them become your operating system, a lens through which a UVU ambition, every idea, every decision starts your day with prayer and scripture, anchor meetings or project launches in reading or a moment of silence.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let God's wisdom, not just market data, shape your plans, look for some everyday applications in business, this means sacrificing short-term profit for long-term trust.
[SPEAKER_00]: Choosing sustainable practices are refusing to undercut competitors through dishonesty.
[SPEAKER_00]: And healthcare means advocating for the patient's dignity above protocol or efficiency.
[SPEAKER_00]: And creative work, it means refusing to plagiarize or manipulate audiences, even if it brings success, ask yourself, does this decision look the same in the light of Christ?
[SPEAKER_00]: Number two, embrace arm and bed practices of discernment and pause into your routine.
[SPEAKER_00]: Institute what I call a Paul's protocol.
[SPEAKER_00]: Before finalizing a major boundary pushing decision, it forced a 24-hour hole.
[SPEAKER_00]: Use that time to pray, seek wise counsels, that would just come for ask God for the wisdom to see the hidden consequences good and bad of your actions.
[SPEAKER_00]: Desherment is the art of listening to God.
[SPEAKER_00]: Your conscience to the needs of others.
[SPEAKER_00]: Talk to a spiritual director, mentor, trusted peer, ask what I won't my children to learn from this decision.
[SPEAKER_00]: Imagine your actions on the front to Mars news.
[SPEAKER_00]: Would you be proud or would you cringe?
[SPEAKER_00]: Number three, evaluate the human impact of every innovation.
[SPEAKER_00]: True innovation serves others.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I believe, rather than exploit.
[SPEAKER_00]: heals rather than harms.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you're relentless thinking requires manipulation, exploitation, or integration of others, it's not true progress.
[SPEAKER_00]: Pope Francis often reminded us in his writings that technology and business must serve humanity, not the other way around.
[SPEAKER_00]: Does this idea a product or decision upholding her dignity of every person it touches?
[SPEAKER_00]: Will it benefit the
[SPEAKER_00]: And my listening to those who will be most affected, customers, co-workers, or the vulnerable.
[SPEAKER_00]: Even creation itself.
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is a big one here in business customers.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, there's one right now.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was reading a book the other day and he was saying, and I get what he's saying too, but he's saying the customers not always right.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I ended up calling just to kind of see
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, and I call him twice because one time one time I was just seeing what they were all for And so I'm calling the guy and he says hey, you know, we do it a little different here.
[SPEAKER_00]: First we're going to tell you the price and then you tell me if you want to know for the guy gives me the price.
[SPEAKER_00]: I said, well I mean, first I mean, I'm not real sure what you're selling here.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I said, I want to know more about your product before you just give me a price and I agree.
[SPEAKER_00]: He said, okay, okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: So he goes through and we're talking and All of a sudden another and
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, this was before I had my business.
[SPEAKER_00]: And you know, I just want to talk and, you know, the people that's been in business and as we're talking back and forth, I'm going through and I'm asking questions and he said, yeah, he said, this is for people with businesses right here and he said, when you're playing this, this is all the services that we're going to give you.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're going, he said, so what do you think, Mike?
[SPEAKER_00]: I said, well, I said, this would probably something in the future, I might, you know, consider.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I said, right now, man, I just said,
[SPEAKER_00]: Uh, starting my business, I said, I'm still working and because, you know, my plan is to have everything on the side, build up and then quit my job and have everything take over.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he said, no, man, what you're doing right now is fear, dude, he said, just swipe that card.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I said, okay, I said, let me ask you something.
[SPEAKER_00]: I said, okay, I'll swipe my card, I said, but I want to ask you something.
[SPEAKER_00]: I said, you said that you can only help me with this amount of money.
[SPEAKER_00]: do this.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I said, I just told you right now that I have a business, but it's not profitable because I'm just now starting to build it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm just writing everything down on it.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he said, you're it's fear, man.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just swipe that card today.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I said, you're contradicting yourself.
[SPEAKER_00]: I said, you told me this is for business.
[SPEAKER_00]: Is there up and running.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then these are the services you can provide to help grow in scale.
[SPEAKER_00]: I said, so which is it?
[SPEAKER_00]: uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh
[SPEAKER_00]: never would send me anything.
[SPEAKER_00]: He had his manager.
[SPEAKER_00]: He said, Mike, let's do it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's do it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's swipe that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's swipe that car.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's swipe the car.
[SPEAKER_00]: I said, hold on.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I called him.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I said, this is our email in first.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I said, hey, look, this is the issue.
[SPEAKER_00]: I said, I'm not seeing the properties, not knowing where it's at or anything.
[SPEAKER_00]: Still don't send me anything.
[SPEAKER_00]: So he sends me another email.
[SPEAKER_00]: Come on, Michael.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I call him.
[SPEAKER_00]: I said, look, I said, I'm not going to give you any money.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I do won't you know one thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: I said,
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not going to give you any money.
[SPEAKER_00]: I said, if you can't tell me which properties that you own, I said, if that's too much of a challenge for you, then I said, we've got nothing.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've got nothing for you.
[SPEAKER_00]: I said, have a good day.
[SPEAKER_00]: Number four, practice radical transparency and accountability.
[SPEAKER_00]: The best test of an ethical decision is whether you're a big comfortable if it were made in public.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you feel the need to keep it in secret, secret to code your language or how details, that's use a red flag.
[SPEAKER_00]: Seek to bring the whole process into light.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is what you need to do.
[SPEAKER_00]: Document your big decisions along with your motivations and ethical checks, review them regularly and invite feedback.
[SPEAKER_00]: Allow trusted people to ask hard questions.
[SPEAKER_00]: This creates a culture at work or home where it's safe to pursue greatness, but never the cost of goodness.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's look at Luke 817 for nothing is hidden.
[SPEAKER_00]: that all that will not be disclosed, nor is anything secret that will not become known and come to light.
[SPEAKER_00]: Transparency and integrity are deeply connected.
[SPEAKER_00]: Number five, stay relentless in your pursuit of virtue, not just achievement, relentless isn't about pushing boundaries.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's about pushing deeper into who God calls us to be.
[SPEAKER_00]: You need to challenge yourself, set spiritual check-ins, daily, weekly, month, the journal about the times you choose integrity over experience, celebrate your own and others, choices to keep faith and values at the center, especially when it calls something.
[SPEAKER_00]: Finally, root yourself and hope and community.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: This is not a solo pursuit, lean on your community, family, church, colleagues, okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: which it falls from it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Take a deep breath, reflect.
[SPEAKER_00]: Where in your life are you invited to raise the bar?
[SPEAKER_00]: But also to deepen your roots?
[SPEAKER_00]: Who can you invite on this journey to help you stay both bold and anchored?
[SPEAKER_00]: What's one small step?
[SPEAKER_00]: You can take this week to reinforce your house on the rock.
[SPEAKER_00]: Guys, this week I'm going to close this episode today.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's take a time, to gather all that we've learned.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know I've covered a lot today, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: We began by looking at the deep call each of us have, innovate, to dream, to strive for impact.
[SPEAKER_00]: We've talked about honesty, about the pressures that sometimes tempt us to just about excuse actions we'd rather consider.
[SPEAKER_00]: We saw in Scripture and the lives of models throughout faith in history.
[SPEAKER_00]: That true greatness always requires an unwavering commitment to what is right, even when nobody's looking, even when it calls to us something.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's pray.
[SPEAKER_00]: Dear God.
[SPEAKER_00]: You were the source of all creativity and goodness from the beginning.
[SPEAKER_00]: You called us to be stewards of your word, to cultivate, to imagine, to build and bless.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, our hearts better than we know ourselves.
[SPEAKER_00]: You see the moments that when our draft for success pulls us away from our center, you understand the pressures we face, the hidden fears and the silent temptations.
[SPEAKER_00]: Forgranus, the strength to be relentless for all that is good and true.
[SPEAKER_00]: When we are tempted to rationalize, give us clarity.
[SPEAKER_00]: When shortcuts call to us, give us the wisdom to see their true calls.
[SPEAKER_00]: When others follow the crowd, give us the courage to stand a part of need.
[SPEAKER_00]: It not just for the sake of being different, but for the sake of your kingdom and love.
[SPEAKER_00]: Help us, God, to root every innovation and ambition in the bedrock of your word.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let your spirit,
[SPEAKER_00]: be our compass and grace of gratitude.
[SPEAKER_00]: Make us instruments of your justice, peace, and creativity in the arena as we serve.
[SPEAKER_00]: Our workplace is homes and communities.
[SPEAKER_00]: Forgive us at the times we've failed when fear spoke louder than conscience.
[SPEAKER_00]: When convenience outweigh conviction, when prod lured us away from humanity and truth.
[SPEAKER_00]: Wash us clean the manure hearts and help us start again.
[SPEAKER_00]: Holy Spirit, fill us with discernment, open our eyes to see not only the immediate but the ripple effects of our actions.
[SPEAKER_00]: Give us the resolve to pause before big decisions to seek wise counsel and prayer to to value virtue overachieve it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Lead us to nurture communities of accountability where honesty is welcome, where hard truths can be spoken and love, where we cheer what another own faithfulness and excellence.
[SPEAKER_00]: got to pray over people, especially all for listening to a day who are wrestling with ethical dilemmas and heavy decisions.
[SPEAKER_00]: Grant them wisdom, serenity, and the assurance of your presence.
[SPEAKER_00]: Remind them they are never alone.
[SPEAKER_00]: You walk with them always.
[SPEAKER_00]: got me every gift we have our intellect, our creativity, our drive to use for your glory and the good of those we serve.
[SPEAKER_00]: And as we move forward, let us remember, take readlet, listen this means, losing, never losing side of what matters most.
[SPEAKER_00]: May we keep our eyes fixed on you, the author and perfecter of our, all that is good.
[SPEAKER_00]: We asked this to cry startle or name him.
[SPEAKER_00]: Guys, thank you so much for joining me today.
[SPEAKER_00]: Don't forget to add me, it's Michael Hanks, published out there on Facebook,
[SPEAKER_00]: My prayer for you is simple.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank big, act boldly, but always stay together to truth.
[SPEAKER_00]: I ask thank you so much for listening.
[SPEAKER_00]: Till next time, stay relentless, stay grounded and may the peace of Christ be with you always.