Lent Devotional – Model Behavior

When I was asked to write a Lent devotional about how my faith informed the way I ran my business, I wasn’t sure if I was the right person to speak on this topic. My company, allianceUSA, was a technology training company providing classes to businesses in primarily the DFW area, however I did have the opportunity to send my instructors all over the United States and occasionally internationally. I will be the first to admit that I did not regularly pray in the office or refer to my Bible for answers as many people have stated in these devotionals. However, I can say that the principals I learned in church and from the Bible did guide me as I interacted with both employees and customers. In doing so, I believe I had some of the best and most loyal employees (as well as customers).

Those principals included “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” Luke 6:31. I would never ask more of my employees than I was willing to give myself. I felt it was very important to show an example of what I expected from my employees by modeling that behavior. Along this line, 1 Peter 5:3 also guided me “Don’t lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example.”

In addition, I followed the principal of “Love your neighbor as yourself” Mark 12:31. I chose to always respect my employees. Many times, I may not have agreed with everyone. However, I learned that by listening and allowing my staff to have a say in what and how they were working on projects, they brought more energy and excitement to those projects. This allowed my employees to be more successful which in turn allowed the company to be more successful.

By encouraging each of my employees to develop their skills and understanding that each of them had a very big life outside of the office, we were able together to create a successful business and working environment that I believe everyone was happy to contribute to. I recognize that I would never have been as successful without having employees that were dedicated and caring. I am grateful that I was given the opportunity to lead these people and was able to so utilizing my Christian based principals.

Christie Hermann

allianceUSA