Ethics and Trust at Work, Beating Arthritis
As a Christian business leader you want to accelerate your growth, profit, and witness in the marketplace (and build a better life!). Our goal is to bring you the best tips, tools, and techniques to do just that!
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Business
Why We Are Unethical at Work – Why do people, even people who care about being honest, make questionable ethical decisions? In light of the misdeeds by Volkswagen and Mitsubishi, it is clear that this is a problem that leaders must address. What are we doing that encourages this type of behavior?
This study shows that we fail to learn from past unethical decisions because our subconscious “forgets” past misdeeds. It does this for the same reason it buries other bad experiences – to protect our self-image. We like to see ourselves as good and honest people and evidence (or memories) of us behaving differently make us feel bad about ourselves. So, we bury the evidence. Which means that we don’t learn from past mistakes to make better decisions in the future.
As leaders, what can we do to help our people and ourselves overcome this bias? Several options come to mind: 1) Clearly define what is ethical behavior in your organization, 2) Make an ethics (or decision making) review a part of your promotion and review process and 3) Celebrate ethical victories (especially those that cost you money – those are the hardest right decisions to make) and make moral lapses learning opportunities for everyone.
A focus on ethical decision making by leadership will lead to great returns for your organization.
Business Case for Trust? – Can you make a business case for investing in trust for your business? A recent study says you can! This study shows that America’s most trusted public companies outperformed the marketplace by 1.8x.
These “most trusted” companies excelled in the following 5 areas of trustworthiness:
- Financial Stability
- Accounting Conservativeness
- Corporate Governance
- Transparency
- Sustainability
You can learn more at the Trust Across America website here.
Health
Arthritis is a Pain – As I get older, I hang out with older people (me being one of them!). I also just like hanging out with older people. There is so much to learn from people with more life under their belt!
Well, more and more of my older friends are suffering from some form of arthritis. Turns out arthritis is the number one cause of pain for older Americans. I intend to remain very active until the good Lord calls me home, and this arthritis stuff could really slow me down.
How do you (and I) avoid arthritis or reduce the symptoms if it has already started? After reading numerous articles and listening to a couple good books on the subject, here are the top recommendations I found:
- Lose Weight – Extra weight kills your joints, reduces your ability (and likelihood) to move and reduces life span. It’s a shame, but we just need to eat less and move more.
- Avoid Injuries – If you can. Anytime you suffer an injury to a joint you are much more likely to experience early arthritis at the site of the injury. Multiple injuries to the same joint are particularly bad for arthritis. If an activity you are doing continues to cause you to injure yourself, find a new activity!
- Stay Very Hydrated – The cartilage inside your joints is made up mostly of water and needs lots of it to do its job right. Your weight divided by 2 in ounces is a good starting point. (160lbs/2 = 80 oz).
- Move – Moving has multiple benefits for joints. It helps you lose weight. It helps you build muscle to support your joints and it helps give your cartilage what it needs to thrive. Cartilage doesn’t have blood vessels so your movement gets it the fluid it needs (think of it like a sponge). Do stuff that doesn’t hurt. Pick up new hobbies if you have to (think swimming, yoga, etc.).
- Reduce Repetitive Motions – Your daily life and your hobbies often include harmful repetitive motions. Vary your exercise routines, stand at your desk, don’t sit for too long and pay attention to your posture.
- Eat Well – Deep colored fruits and vegetables contain powerful antioxidants that help your body fight free radicals and heal itself. Don’t smoke and avoid excessive alcohol intake. Both of these weaken your body and its natural defenses.
- Supplement – Vitamins C, D and extra calcium have all been shown to help. Many people report benefits from supplements like Glucosamine and Chondroitin.
There are several studies and many new techniques being developed to regenerate damaged cartilage. Interesting article from UCSF Medical Center on cartilage repair.
Do your part to keep your joints healthy and let’s hope that medical innovations continue in this area!
Life, Fun, Whatever!
In honor of Father’s Day, a compilation of some amazing “Dad Saves.” Very worthy 2 min watch! Click on the photo below to watch. Thanks to my brother in law, Thomas Berkery for this recommendation.
Here’s wishing you a great rest of your week!
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