Service is Why

Lessons Learned:

Learning about becoming a game-changer has been a game-changer for me this week. I soaked in all the talks and articles about the purpose of business. Of course, Elder Holland’s talk on the beggar in us all was fantastic to revisit, but since I’d never heard the talk by Elder Gay before, I was hit by his message particularly hard. The concept of “rag missions” got me thinking about why I’m even pursuing this degree in business. Elder Gay says that a person’s attitude toward wealth is “critical” in business. He was humble and grateful in delivering his message and seems to have always had a sense of his “why.”  

Lessons Yet to Learn:

I still need to figure out what the Lord wants me to do. Maybe it’s right in front of me and I just can’t see it yet, but I feel like I need Him to make it even more obvious. I also need to rethink my “why.” I’m probably too motivated by the dollar signs, even though I want to justify my business ideas as service. I’ve got to learn to switch it around and let my desire to serve others lead my actions in this adventure of a venture. I’ve been impatient too. I want to know what I’m needed for right now and get going on it. But I need to learn patience and to accept the Lord’s timing.  

Bonus Questions:

§  Based on what you read in the first two pages (pages 3 and 4), why are virtue and integrity so vital to an economy?

Virtue and integrity are vital to an economy because the very people for whom the companies and corporations are run depend on it. When “laborers” and consumers find out that a company doesn’t really have their best interest at heart, loyalty drops, sales decrease, and the company is left exposed. But if there are not enough regulations in place to reprimand a company that has cheated its greatest asset (the customer), the cycle continues, at the cost of the entire economy. If we as a nation want to see our economy flourish, we need to eradicate the greed and change the mindset of those at the top. People need to be able to believe that they are cared for and valued. When large corporations reveal the truth of their enterprise as less than they’ve portrayed, what do we have left to believe in?

§  According to Charles Handy, what is the “real justification” for the existence of businesses?

The real justification for the existence of business is not to make a profit, but “to make a profit so that the business can do something more or better.” To keep progressing forward, in other words, is how I see Handy’s saying. But I think he means that the business is thinking only of itself when this is the case, as if the company is saying, “how can we make more money so that we can make more money?”

§  What are two solutions proposed by Handy that you agree with? Why?

One thing I agree with Handy on is that, “A good business is a community with a purpose, and a community is not something to be “owned.” A community has members, and those members have certain rights, including the right to vote or express their views on major issues.” A community is people working together, contributing what they possess to build something they all want and can be proud of, or invested in. If corporations don’t value their members or treat them as “costs” and not assets, they will likely eventually suffer losses greater than those of monetary value.

Another solution Handy suggested was that businesses need to start with more honesty in their reports. Where did the saying, “honesty is the best policy” disappear to? Why do executives or accountants think they can hide or alter facts? With better, more rigid laws in place that protect a business against itself by exposing more details, the higher-ups might have to think twice about how they handle things and to whom they entrust the production of honest, accurate reports. Since the “natural man” exists in all of us, I believe some must be compelled to be honest.