The essence of any organization is the people. When an organization has the right people doing the right things for the right reasons, the results will be right. Likewise, when an organization has the wrong people, the results will be wrong.

The difference between right and wrong people sometimes can be difficult to discern. Perhaps the best tool to identify the right people is listening to what they say.¹

People communicate both verbally and nonverbally. Verbal communication provides a glimpse into the heart of the communicator. Used in this sense, the heart is a metaphor for the repository of a person’s mind, will, and emotions.

Given the fallen condition of mankind, our minds, wills, and emotions are biased to sin against God. Sin literally means to miss the mark, that is, to miss the standards that God, the Creator of the universe, established for his creation.

This reality is true even for Christians who are positionally regenerate but practically being sanctified. This means that the practices of Christians are in the process of being conformed to their position. Since sanctification is never completed in this life, Christians are still prone to sin.

In organizations, all stakeholders—those who have a vested interest in the organizations—manifest sin. Stakeholders include owners, managers, workers, associates, suppliers, subcontractors, customers, and regulators.

Though our minds, wills, and emotions are biased to sin, this does not mean that everything people do is sin. On a rudimentary level, through common grace mankind can obey some of God’s standards. For example, a fool can be considered wise when he uses his tongue properly.² And, through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, Christians are empowered to obey God’s standards beyond the limited empowerment of common grace.

Notwithstanding common grace granted to everyone and the empowerment by the Holy Spirit at work in Christians, all people are inclined to think and act contrary to the will and ways of God. Narcissistic practices—such as greed, theft, deceit, laziness, and dishonesty—will be more the rule than not. And godly practices—such as wise stewardship, honesty, faithfulness, excellence, and hard work—will be the exceptions.

Wise management must recognize the ubiquitous bias to sin in mankind. The best way to respond to sinful people is to disciple them, that is, seek to help them align with God’s standards—his will and ways.³ When people refuse to be discipled, the only other option is sin management.

Sin management does not facilitate internal transformation and therefore cannot produce sanctified people who are self-governing under God. Discipleship facilitates internal transformation, which facilitates sanctification and empowers people to be self-governing under God.

Managing sin only provides external boundaries that encourage compliance with God’s standards but does not produce internal motivation. The best way to encourage alignment with God is to help people mature in their heart attitudes. This maturity will enable them to be internally motivated. Clearly, discipleship is the best way to counter the innate sin that is in all people.

Here is your business tip. Management must recognize the bias to sin in all stakeholders. One way to detect the level of sin in anyone is to listen to what he or she says. Wise managers are good listeners who discern the internal motivation of people. These managers also understand that to deliver excellent value requires stakeholders who are internally motivated to obey God’s standards. The best way to build people who are self-governing under God is to build a culture of discipleship that empowers stakeholders to mature spiritually. For those stakeholders who refuse to be discipled, the only options are sin management or termination. Given that sin management never works well, termination is generally the best choice.

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1 Luke 6:43–45.
2 Proverbs 17:28.
3 Matthew 28:18–20.