6. Don't assume anything.
This also goes with the first principle (deal with the facts, not fiction). Know the facts. Don't assume something to be true or untrue unless you have the required evidence to say so. You can use intuition, however, from experience, but don't be impulsive. For example, if an employee's level of productivity suddenly declines when they have a history of great efficiency, don't assume that it's because they no longer care and are suddenly lazy. Something more serious might be going on, such as depression, or injury. This is what makes effective communication so vital. If you communicate effectively, you'll be able to easily obtain all the facts (especially because they trust and respect you), and you won't have to assume anything.
As we know, God doesn't need to assume anything because He knows everything. As finite beings, we can't ever know absolutely everything about a particular matter, but we can gather the facts about a particular situation to minimise assumption making and thus make a wise decision. We all know the saying that if you make assumptions, you'll just make an ass out of yourself. (Pardon the French, but you can find that word int he Bible too!) Make too many assumptions, and you'll make a fool of yourself.
7. Employ the social sciences of psychology and social psychology.
You don't need to be an expert in psychology in order to employ these sciences. Everybody practises these social sciences in every day life. With psychology, we all observe human behaviour such as eye contact (avoiding eye contact is a sign of lying or insecurity), hand gestures that may suggest being defensive or closed-off or open, the tone of voice someone uses to express an opinion, etc. With social psychology, we observe how people interact with one another such as the amount of laughter and/or smiling, a furrowed brow during a discussion to suggest some sort of emotional opposition, who's the most and least talkative to indicate who's extroverted and introverted, etc.
As God is our Creator, He obviously understands us the most, so He has as fart greater advantage than we'll ever have. This doesn't mean that we're incapable of understanding people, however. By using these two social sciences in our every day lives, we are all able to make inferences of how a person feels. Of course, you can make erroneous inferences, but making those deductions is still important because it leads you to understanding the individual, even if you get it wrong. For example, as an introvert, I don't talk a lot unless I'm in a group of people with whom I'm comfortable being around, or when there's a discussion that I'm actually interested in (if it's sports or cars, you'll find that I won't say anything). Someone who doesn't know me and therefore misunderstands me can infer that I'm a closed-off individual and therefore have a cold heart. I wouldn't say all this if it hadn't happened before. The opposite actually happens to be true. As an introvert, I appear as closed-off at first because I need to spend time around a person before I decide whether or not I want to open up to them. The more time I spend around a person, the more I open up, and they come to find that I'm actually very open with how I feel and have a very warm heart. Also, as an introvert, I get my energy by being alone, and being around people is spending that energy. It's the exact opposite for extroverts.
This principle goes hand-in-hand with the 5th principle of communicating effectively. Employing the social science of psychology is not just observing human behaviour; it also includes getting yourself involved with human behaviour — taking the time to talk to someone in order to understand them. As an introvert, I struggle with this the most. I don't really like talking to people unless it's necessary.
The more you understand a person, the better the relationship will be. Observing how they interact with other people at work is also indicative of what kind of person they are. If you notice that they're rude towards their co-workers, you can then create methods to reform their behaviour. On the other hand, if they're kind and professional, you obviously don't need to do anything about how they interact with their co-workers.
8. Be professional.
You can tell someone to be professional, but they may not know what that means. (Common sense seems to be a sparse commodity nowadays.) This principle applies to all co-workers, but even more so as a manager since you're the one who sets the standards. Being professional can mean a variety of things, of which the first is to leave what you do outside of work at home; when you're at work, do what's necessary for work. For example, don't browse Facebook or Pinterest or Twitter when you're on the clock (doing it during lunch is different). Or leave how you talk at home (e.g. vulgarity), and use professional and appropriate language at work. But the primary attribute of professionalism is sticking to the mission. I talked about this earlier. Don't stray from the mission. The best person in history who stuck to his mission was Jesus Christ. Upon His incarnation, everything He did was for the purpose of saving the human race from sin. Every word He said, every parable He told, and every deed He did all had the objective of His mission i mind: spreading the Gospel and saving humanity. Before His ascension, He commanded His subordinates (the Apostles and every Christian) to continue His mission to spread the Gospel message in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20), everything they do for the objective that people may be saved in Christ. And 2,000+ years later, we Christians still work toward that mission today.
Likewise, at work, everything you and the people under you do needs to add to the company's or department's current mission/goal. If you're a manager, think of what your current mission or goal is. Remember that everything you do as manager is important and needs to continue the process that will lead to the best final output of that goal. As manager, you may have several goals. Prioritise those goals and take each of them one at a time with actions that benefit each goal, and the final output will be accomplished.
9. Explain problems.
Arising problems are inevitable within any organisation. Any problem that arises, it's best to communicate those problems to the people you manage. If they know what the problem is, they'll be able to take measures to fix the problem. As manager, you don't always have all the answers. Communicating the problem with others will create more opportunities for the problem to be fixed with ideas that you've never thought of before. However, you may happen to know how to solve a particular problem, whether you come up with it on your own or upper management tells you how they want it to be fixed. This is when you need to both alert your department about the problem and then advise them on how to fix it.
Jesus never let people deal with their problems on their own. Whether He told people a parable to help them with a particular issue or directly fixed their problems by handling it Himself (e.g. a miracle), Jesus always helped people with their problems. Likewise, as manager, you can't fix problems by yourself; you will need the help of the people underneath you. Or rather, those who are beside you. Don't think of your subordinates as being beneath you, but rather beside you as you all work together towards the organisation's common goal. They can't help you if they're not aware of what the problem is and aren't advised on what to do if they don't know how to fix it. Likewise, if they have a problem, get yourself involved. Fixing a problem is a team effort and the best way to do that is, again, communicating effectively by explaining what the problem is, the alternative methods you can use to fix it, and then choosing a course of action from among the alternatives.
10. Measure your worth and the worth of your people in the eyes of God.
I saved this one for last because this is the most important principle. If anything, practise this principle and all the others will follow. Not everybody you work with is going to be Christian. They may be atheist, Muslim, Buddhist, or any other religion. Having employees who aren't Christian is no excuse to treat them differently from those who are Christian. Indeed, their religion isn't any of your business in the first place, but if you happen to know what their religion is, that doesn't give you reason to treat them like crap. No matter what they believe, they are still human, meaning that they were also created in the image of God, which means that God still loves them. God still loves them and therefore desires for them all to be saved. Even though they don't deserve to be saved (just as we don't), God still considers them worthy enough to be loved by sending His Son to die for them. Jesus didn't die for Christians alone; Jesus died for the whole world (John 3:16), and that includes those who aren't Christian. Therefore, people ought to be treated with respect and the love of Christ no matter their religious beliefs because regardless of their religion, God still loves them and desires to know them. Being Christian doesn't mean God loves you more than those who are not. Being Christian, in a nutshell, just means that you undeservedly have Christ's imputed righteousness and His salvation by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). If your subordinates happen to know that you're Christian or discover that you are at a later time and you treat non-Christians like garbage, how do you think that will reflect Christ? Doing so would be a misrepresentation of Christ and a failure of spreading the larger mission: spreading the Gospel message. It'll convince them to not be a part of Christianity at all. We are ambassadors of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20), therefore represent Him the way we're supposed to.
Just as you consider others as very valuable because of God's love, do the same for yourself. No matter your failures or shortcomings, God always loves you. God doesn't measure you by your successors and failures. We do that, but God measures you in the blood of Christ. He sees you covered in His blood, forgiven and justified in the baptism of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Your worth is in Christ, not in the tasks that you do every day.
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