Critics sometimes suggest that competitiveness is foreign to a religion of love, meekness, and peace. They have no idea how hard it is to be meeker than one’s neighbor. There are abuses of competitive spirit, of course, as there are of love, meekness, and peace. But to compete - com + petere, “to seek together although against each other” - is not a vice. It is, in a sense, the form of every virtue and an indispensable element in natural and spiritual growth. Competition is the natural play of the free person. All striving is based upon measurement of oneself by some ideal and under some judgment. When that judgment is ominscient and omnipotent, such measurement is keener than any scalpel. Human sports, lotteries, and contests of every sort - in oratory, song, drama, horsemanship, the arrangement of flowers, the winning of tenure - would make no sense if the competitive spirit were foreign to human nature and learning. Most humans rejoice in it.
Furthermore, it is unlikely that individuals could ever discover their own potential unless they were blessed with good friends and rivals, whose exploits teach them how to push themselves harder than they yet have. To live in a slack age of low standards is a curse upon self-realization. To live among bright, alert, striving rivals is a great gift to one’s own development.
Michael Novak
The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism (p. 347), Madison Books, 1991
Read entire article »
Is health and wellness a business issue?
Coach Don Nava shares how God gave him insight, empathy, and compassion for those who struggle with their fitness through the life of his 10-year old son, David.
Read entire article »
Second in Bernard Moon’s two-part recollection on how business ethics can be passed from one generation to the next.
Read entire article »
John was a successful Christian businessman in his forties. He considered himself a casual drinker and liked to spend time at the bars in the hotels where he stayed. He would say to himself, I will have only one drink tonight, but the truth was that he liked drinking too much to quit after just one. He also liked talking to the people he met in the bar.
John was firmly committed to his wife, but often he would slip into conversation with the women he met in the bars. They were often just as lonely as he was. One scotch and soda after another would lead him through the conversation.
Sometimes he caught himself flirting with these women. When he went back to his room, he was always alone, but he would fantasize about whomever he had just talked with.
The longer he traveled, the more comfortable he became with this routine. One dark night of drinking turned into a darker night of fantasizing…
Stephen Arterburn and Sam Gallucci
Road Warrior: How to Keep Your Faith, Relationships and Integrity When Away from Home (p. 67), Waterbrook Press, 2008
Read entire article »
Our colleague, Bernard Moon reveals some lessons he has learned from his father on relationships and influence.
Read entire article »
John Sipple ends the Back To The Cottage series by reflecting on the personal experiences that accompanied him on his journey from the Cottage to the Corporation and back, pointing out the significant turning points that shaped his character.
Read entire article »
In this second part of the series, Dan Wooldridge witnesses the potential for damage if we ignore our influence on anyone who might be watching us.
Read entire article »
Dan Wooldridge recalls a lesson learned from a front-desk manager: we never know who is watching us and who is being influenced by our behavior.
Read entire article »
Our friend, Bernard Moon, is a resident and technology business veteran from Silicon Valley. Here he shares some insightful observations of the behavior and culture of Silicon Valley as only an insider to the culture can.
Read entire article »
The Tale of Two Billionaires
In this second part of the series, Dan Wooldridge tells the story of the second billionaire who, too, lost his legacy. Out of this story he pulls out a lesson on leaving a legacy in the business you have created.
Read entire article »
