“You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measures of length or weight or quantity.” Leviticus 19:35 ESV

One of the principles that I learned early in business was to lead people and manage systems.

As a CFO Consultant for organizations, we spend as much time educating leaders as with developing management systems. The one destructive behavior that seems common to novice supervisors, executives, and entrepreneurs is operating under the model of managing people like they do systems. The challenge is that systems don’t think, react, and grow. People do. When we expect people to operate like a system, we have than DE-humanized them. People want to lead and be led. People are not systems. When these same executives see the difference and begin leading people like they want to be led, the results are easily measurable. The outcomes are very noticeable.

Another challenge with many leaders is their approach of managing processes and systems by feelings rather than objective data. How many times have you asked specific questions on the details only to receive a person’s opinion based on their feelings rather than on objective truth? (If you received a dollar for each person’s emotional insight, you would probably have extra income for an expensive, weekly date night).

If one is not objectively measuring the outcome of the process, than one is not managing. One is simply acting upon their feelings. And feelings are very subjective.

What does this mean for you and I? Simply this: if you want to accomplish something that is very important to you in a timely and effective manner, then you need to have an objective measurement. An objective measurement means something that is universally accepted. It means a standard that doesn’t change. If one hundred different people applied the same standard, you would receive the same answer by the same one hundred people. There may be one hundred different opinions based on feelings, which may cloud the issue or provide information that may require further study, but the real, factual truth of the matter is based on an agreed standard.

So the next time you manage the process or system and ask for a person’s feelings on the matter, expect an answer that is clouded, bias, and most likely inaccurate. The real answer lies in the unbiased facts. Bottom-line: lead people, manage systems.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Executive Director & Founder
Marketplace Bible Institute
& Resource Center, Inc
Author of e-Books:
 *  Great Business Emulates a Good God
 *  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
 *  Simply The Messenger
 *  Unequally Married

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