day 396: 'Dem Be The Rules

Work is managed more through rules than we would even imagine, that is until we sit down and read all the through the policy and procedure book. No wonder some of the most creative people find ways to not go to work for big companies so that they aren't subject to the myriad of rules and regulations. Of course there must be some set of rules in order for any organization to function and operate, but I have always been a believer that in the rule category, less is more. If we fill a book up with policies to try and cover every imaginable situation then we are surely penalizing those that don't need to be penalized and we are creating statutes for the exceptions and that doesn't bode well for a philosophy of trusting those around us. The companies that do it the best, in my mind, are those who manage from a place of values and principles first and rules second, and only when there is no other way around it they put a rule in place. The first time we encounter rules in our lives are as children and each of them are put there to set boundaries to keep us safe and out of harms way. As we grow older we want less boundaries and we search for independence and freedoms. The same can be said for how we work. Within each of our jobs we want as much autonomy and freedom as possible and rules tend only to get in the way. But, they are a way of work life and unless we are in a position to influence how the rules are written, we just have to live within them. King David had the right attitude as it came to rules and laws. He said to God in Psalm 119:44; "Your laws are always right; help me to understand them so I may live." We may not always think that the rules and laws within our work are right, but seeking to understand so that we can live within them will help bring some sense to why and how to manage within them. Don't be a person who lets the rules get you down or cause your attitude to be affected because you don't like the ways things are managed. Do your best, to understand the "whys" behind the rules and then find your own way to work and live within them.

Reference: Psalm 119:144 (New Living Testament)

day 156: Chief Legal Counsel

Most corporations today have either in-house or external legal counsel. With the litigious society we live in, it is almost a requirement. In public companies just the compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley regulations alone can keep multiple attorneys fully-employed. I always had a great relationship with the legal teams I worked with. In most cases they weren’t too conservative or only about just saying “no”. Instead, they were wise about risk management, forward-thinking about potential legal moves that might be made against us and strong counsel when it came to internal issues on how work within the law with people. Way more than once in my career I have seen legal counsel keep the company out of legal problems or public embarrassment. Not everyone in business has had the same good interactions and experiences with their legal teams. Sometimes we can feel like the legal aspects of the business tie our hands and that we can’t get much of anything done because the advice and counsel is to not take any risks whatsoever. It would be wise to heed the advice and the counsel of your chief legal counsel. We all know that we must stay within the lines of the law and that when we don’t we run high risks. We have seen many examples over the past few years of executives who have broken the law and are now paying for their transgressions. We all are faced with choices within the gray and we need to ensure that we know the line between right and wrong and we stay within those lines. Not only because right is right and wrong is wrong, but also because we know that others are watching and following our examples. God has given us many laws that can keep us right within His eyes. Within His word we can find the lines that we need to ensure that we are not going awry or astray. But, we must pay attention. We are told this in Romans 2:13: "For merely listening to the law doesn’t make us right with God. It is obeying the law that makes us right in his sight." Today, you may need to call upon our legal counsel, I mean the true “chief legal counsel”, to guide you through a difficult choice or decision. Know that the counselor of all time sits on your side and you can, and should, call on Him at any time for the best advice and counsel that you could ever receive.

Reference: Romans 2:13 (New Living Testament)