Of the things we think, say or do-
1. Is it the truth?
2. Is it fair to all concerned?
3. Will it build good will and better friendships?
4. Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
After years of reciting the test, I decided to learn more about who came up with the test, and why. I find the story interesting and believe we can draw parallels to our situation in La Paz County. Here’s the story...
In the early 1930s Herbert J. Taylor set out to save the Club Aluminum Products distribution company from bankruptcy. He believed himself to be the only person in the company with 250 employees who had hope. His recovery plan started with changing the ethical climate of the company. He explained:
The first job was to set policies for the company that would reflect the high ethics and morals God would want in any business. If the people who worked for Club Aluminum were to think right, I knew they would do right. What we needed was a simple, easily remembered guide to right conduct - a sort of ethical yardstick- which all of us in the company could memorize and apply to what we thought, said and did.
I searched through many books for the answer to our need, but the right phrases eluded me, so I did what I often do when I have a problem I can't answer myself: I turn to the One who has all the answers. I leaned over my desk, rested my head in my hands and prayed. After a few moments, I looked up and reached for a white paper card. Then I wrote down the twenty-four words that had come to me: Is it the truth?... Is it fair to all concerned?... Will it build goodwill and better friendships?... Will it be beneficial to all concerned? I called it “The Four-Way Test of the Things We Think, Say or Do.”
In my opinion, in 2016 La Paz County was in a similar situation to the situation facing Club Aluminum Products Distribution Company in the early 1930's. Like Mr. Taylor, I had hope that we could turn things around in La Paz County. We have!
With your help, I plan to keep ethics in our county government a priority! I need your vote in the Primary Election on July 30th and again on November 5, 2024.
~Duce
“A leadership strategy without ethical clarity produces moral and economic bankruptcy.”
-Bill Donahue
As kids many of us learned about ethics from our parents telling us the importance of doing the right thing even when no one is looking.
As a longtime member of Rotary International I strive to use Rotary’s Four-Way Test in business and in my life in general. My Rotary Club, like many other Rotary Clubs around the world recites The Four-Way Test at every club meeting. Many Rotary Clubs have donated Four-Way Test banners to schools to be hung for young people to see. Here it what it says:
~WIN WITH ETHICS~