Definition of Integrity; Part 10 of How To Master Mentoring

“Definition for Integrity” is the subject of podcast episode # 58 by “The Rabbi Who Got Rich on Sunday,” which is the tenth episode in the “How to Master Mentoring” mini-series. 

In the How to Master Mentoring mini-series, each episode starts with a story of how a mentor taught me a valuable lesson and continues with one of the individuals I mentored in life and another in my side hustle business. This week, I will focus on a Mentor of mine in business instead of a Mentee.  Not because I don’t have many mentees who have something to teach us about integrity, such as Pamela K., Kim E., Sara L., and many, many more, but because his example of integrity is just too important not to include in this episode!

In my career, I have been blessed to be mentored by and work with many people who embody a “definition for integrity.”  In this podcast episode that is part of the How to Master Mentoring mini-series, I will focus on a few that each demonstrate a different side of that definition for integrity.  You can and should emulate these examples if you don’t want only short-term success but long-term success, which, to me, is the only worthwhile kind!

I’m Rabbi Dave, and most weeks, we explore the challenges and triumphs of achieving business success while living a #dreamlife. I hope you enjoy “Definition for Integrity.”

How to Master Mentoring Story #28: Definition for Integrity

I moved from Columbus, Ohio to Passaic, New Jersey, and three-quarters of my job was recruiting Jewish teens from secular schools in New Jersey to get involved with the youth group NCSY in New Jersey.  The other quarter was running a free trip to Israel for Jewish adults aged 18 to 26 for Birthright organized by the OU (Orthodox Union) which is also the parent organization of NCSY.

The Birthright quarter was supervised by the national administration based in Manhattan.  Just as I was about to start my new job, the person who had recruited me and was supposed to be one of my supervisors was convicted and sent to jail.  The entire organization was shaken to its core, and a new leader with unquestionable integrity was needed at the top.  That new leader was Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb. Rabbi Weinreb had just been my parent’s Synagogue Rabbi in Baltimore and had a huge positive influence on them (my dad is another paragon of integrity, so they really hit it off).

Rabbi Weinreb was an excellent leader and really shepherded the organization through a very challenging time, and as you’ll soon see for me, he established the base of my definition for integrity.  However, some of the old regimes were still in positions of power, and one of them decided to try to take over my quarter position there.  He set up all the votes and support he needed and raised the issue at a board meeting with both of us present.  Rabbi Weinreb, let him put my job on the agenda.  When it came time for this during the meeting, Rabbi Weinreb stood up and said, I put Rabbi Felsenthal on the agenda, not for the reasons you might think.  Whether Rabbi Felsenthal is doing a good job or not is not up for discussion; he is doing a superb job, and I’d like us to discuss how we can give him more resources to accomplish even more!

He stood up by himself against the entire board, and because of his integrity, everyone instantly saw that he was right and that they were being fooled.

Rabbi Weinreb has continued to be a mentor of mine throughout my career and a very close family friend.

When Rabbi Lowenbraun passed away, and in the beginning of COVID-19 I had been “retired” from the organization after 36 years, I was feeling pretty alone.  Rabbi Weinreb shared his National Platform, where he explained the various readings on Tisha B’Av (one of our biggest Jewish days of mourning) to thousands with me as I shared what I had learned from and lost from Rabbi Lowenbraun who was like a father to me and my greatest mentor. This is just another of many examples of his integrity shining through and helping me refocus on the great opportunities ahead. By giving up some time on his biggest platforms of the year within the organization that had retired me, he once again showed that integrity comes first. 

This is why I start with him in this podcast that focuses on the “definition for integrity.”

How to Master Mentoring Story #29: The Mentee’s Definition for Integrity

One of my first student leaders of ASAP, when we moved to New Jersey from Israel, was Tuly B.  Tuly had been a student in one of my Leadership Training Programs and was now studying how to present the materials we needed to give lectures on in our college campus program.  It was evident very quickly that he was a star speaker and motivator and would be a huge success.  His first big break was going to be when I arranged for him to speak to a huge gathering at Columbia University on the topic of Why Antisemitism happens to the Jews.  At the last minute, the author of the book on which the material was based asked to speak instead, and Tuly’s integrity shone through when he elected to let him take his first big chance.  The author was nowhere near as good as Tuly, but Tuly would get many more chances in the future!

Tuly became a Regional Director of NCSY, and once again, I mentored him, and he succeeded wildly.  His biggest weakness was asking for money, and I started a contest where I trained the regional staff on how to fundraise. The one with the most money raised during the eight-week course would win a $500 gift certificate for books of Jewish wisdom.  If I had offered a cash prize, it would not have motivated Tuly.  But books of Jewish wisdom spoke to his inner integrity, and everyone was surprised when he won the contest!

Later, he started a very successful educational program in Israel.  There was a scandal, and he was accused of doing something wrong.  With extreme integrity, he resigned from the program he had started rather than let the publicity get in the way of the program’s success.  Later, when the judge totally cleared him of any wrongdoing, he did not make trouble or try to reinsert himself but went on to reinvent himself several times. He is one of the most sought-after Jewish speakers on campus today.

A very different but extremely valuable component of our definition for integrity.

How to Master Mentoring Story #30: Definition for integrity in business

The founder and primary owner of the company my primary side business works with is Frank V.  There are many examples of integrity in his life that I have learned from, but I’ll share two that mean a lot in my definition for integrity.

He worked very hard and supported himself to get a college education and became a very successful executive at a Fortune 500 company.  Because of his integrity, he has always been averse to the concept of debt (he was the one to influence me to become and live debt-free, and that has transformed my financial freedom), and when given the opportunity to become the CEO of a startup that came with a package to have a great home with no debt he jumped at the opportunity.  Soon after he started there, he realized that the company was a scheme that was designed to actually hurt many of the people it professed to help. Even though his entire personal financial future was riding on this company, his integrity showed through, and he shut it down and reformulated the business plan based on integrity. It is now one of the most successful direct sales companies in North America.

Another example of his integrity that contributes to my definition for integrity is his sticking to his mission of exceptional products at reasonable prices.  Because his company is debt-free and controls its pipeline of ingredients and manufacturing it puts a lot of money into the natural ingredients of the products it makes. If it were a publicly held company, the stockholders could try to force the company to use less expensive ingredients to drive up prices.  He has been offered tremendous financial deals to sell the company, but his mission isn’t to maximize profits for himself or the company, and thus, he has stuck to his definition for integrity time and time again by not even entertaining these offers.

How to Master Mentoring Recap and Weekly Podcast Challenge

I hope you enjoyed the tenth episode in the miniseries “The Rabbi Who Got Rich on Sunday Shares Mentorship Mastery.” This week’s challenge is to think about the challenges to your integrity you face and what would your mentors do in such a situation.  Please share your thoughts, I love inspirational examples of integrity!

If you’re looking for a mentor and ready to take your personal growth seriously to see how it can transform your business, I’d love to help you. Visit my website and use the Work With Dave link to set up a free consultation. Let’s unlock your full potential together.

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