Jesus didn’t have an MBA and we never hear much about his first career choice as carpenter. Even still, the more I read the Bible, the more business advice I seem to get out of it. This section, Bible on Business, is about those little lessons. The first of which is on cultivating your convictions.
“So let us come boldly to the throne of God” (Hebrews 4:16) – And that’s exactly what Henry Ford did! Well, I don’t know about the “throne of God” part, but he did come boldly. In his autobiography, “My Life and Work,” he describes his conviction for reducing people’s workload so that they could spend more time enjoying nature, friends, and family. Of course this eventually led him to the automobile. While our convictions may be refined as we gain experiences, time spent understanding them can produce success in our careers and in business. An important part to cultivating your convictions is to align your business and personal life convictions.
Matching your business and personal life convictions helps you be bold. No one wants to hear a Braveheart speech every Tuesday morning, but having an opinion goes a long way. Basing those opinions out of your convictions gives you a sound position and helps you stick out from the crowd in a positive way, hopefully.
Spending time cultivating those convictions is an investment in your career and personal life that will pay off. In business school we were tasked with writing down everything we could remember about our lives from day one. As I wrote down memory after memory I started to see patterns and themes emerge. These themes helped me better understand what my convictions are. Think back on your life, what do you see come up consistently? Do you notice repeated drivers in your life or actions that you are naturally drawn to?
Returning to Henry Ford, his conviction for reducing workloads so people can have more time to enjoy life was combined with his passion for mechanics. As a result, Ford achieved personal satisfaction in his work, which, to me, is more notable than the history that is filed under his name. Aligning your life and business convictions can help you gain satisfaction in your work and a point of differentiation within your field.
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). But you have to know what to ask for, what to seek, and when you knock on that door – knock hard!
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