Culture eats strategy for breakfast. The way you treat people—employees, customers, vendors—is the true mission field of your business. In this episode, we talk about how to build a culture that honors God and why it begins with character, not strategy.

My guest is Oscar West, a law enforcement officer and pastor in Louisiana. He shares how soft skills and emotional intelligence have reduced crime in schools—and how those same principles can transform your workplace.

Redeem Your Business Today by the Following:

How can we honor God in our business?

By letting character shape culture and choosing faith over fear in how we lead.

One Challenge from Today:

Take inventory of your culture. Ask someone you trust: What does it feel like to work with me?

More About Oscar West

Website: oscarjwest.com

More About David Schmidt

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Culture eats strategy for breakfast. That is a quote by Peter Drekker. And company culture has enormous part of operating a business that honors God. And that's where, and how we interact with people every day, whether it be employees, coworkers, customers, vendors, whatever. How do you interact with them? That is your mission field, so to speak. Today I brought on Oscar West to start a discussion about building a great work culture. He is a law enforcement officer and a pastor in El...

in the Louisiana area. he works in the sheriff department and works with a lot of kids in the area and teens helping them form good relationships, form a relationship framework. And yeah, they've experienced a drop in crime even because of the work that he does. And so that's a real cool thing. Oscar, welcome to our podcast. And to start off with, what is one way that you have found that we can honor God in our business?

Well, David, thank you first of all for having me. It's definitely a pleasure to be here, sir. I'm actually honored to answer that question. I truly stand on that culture actually flows from character. So anytime we're talking about building a kingdom culture, there's a couple of things need to be there. Honor that we actually honor each other, even in our businesses, you know, unfortunately.

we end up picking up some of the world's ways of doing things and just calling it just about business. But ⁓ service, man, ⁓ actually being humble and seeking actually the Lord. So that's how I would say we honor God by realizing that the way that we handle people ⁓ actually honors God. It flows from character.

Yes.

I totally agree with that. That's very good. Thank you very much. Oscar, give us a brief background of what you were doing today and how you got there, working with the kids and working with character and relationships with them and some of the results you're getting.

Yes, sir. Well,

of two of our children that works in our school. And notice I said our children, because it kind of took it personal. And I just kind of prayed and asked God, why are you allowing me to see this? I have to be doing more than just showing up as a chaplain as well for the sheriff's office and telling the mother that their child is no longer living. It has to be more hope than that. ⁓ you know, man, I actually start to study and figuring out why is it we were seeing the behaviors we were seeing.

Hmm.

And the more I began looking into that and asking the question of why, ⁓ it opened up this world that that's actually all in God's word as well as forest culture. And what we realized is our kids were missing a lot of soft skills, a soft skill, you know, within schools, they were going to colleges, even for many business owners, we have this technical skill, right? We can hire someone for technical expertise, but culture.

I remember the Lord saying to me, he wanted to be placed back in our personal development. And while I didn't totally understand what that meant then, the more I began to learn, Matthew 6 and 33 kind of became the core scripture for even our personal business that talks about, ye first, the kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. So David, at that point, I realized that there were literally two different systems, two different systems. And unfortunately,

Mm-hmm.

Even as believers, sometimes we would operate, try to operate in both of those systems. And that doesn't totally work, sir. Just like, you know, we don't expect an Apple software that operating system to work on Android or the other way around. But we would do that within our businesses as well as within school systems.

Sure.

Hmm, very good.

Hmm, I like the illustration, an Apple working on Android phone. I've never heard that before. That makes sense, except for we can, but it just doesn't work too well. Yeah.

Well, and that's why we were

seeing some of the problems we were seeing within the school system. So when we begin implementing some of this that we actually do with couples, with families, and even within businesses, we knew we were on to something. Because when you start to see crime drop and you have judges that will directly connect it to what you're doing, it's kind of an eye opener, right? It's kind of like, hey, let's give this a little more attention. So much so to where that's literally all I do.

⁓ I have ⁓ a position within the sheriff's office to where I literally go into the schools. I work with junior high and high school students and just teaching soft skills because we have to teach it.

Yep. And by soft skills, you're meaning like how to get along with one another, how not to get angry when people talk to you, how to handle conflict and things like that, right?

So what we're really talking about is relational and emotional intelligence tools. How people get to work together. Because remember, we are solid. We're solid as a country. I believe even in many of our families and businesses, we're telling people how to do things. But when it comes to communication, when it comes to empathy, to adaptability, to leadership presence, again, we can hire someone and teach them the technical expertise.

Okay.

But what about the ability to listen, to resolve conflict, create trust? Because all of this determines whether people stay engaged or whether they burn out.

That's true, that's true. And so if I'm a business owner and I think I have it all together, how do know if I have it all together or not? Or how do I know if I'm having some emotional intelligence issues? What's other than?

You know, that's, that's, that's pretty, that's a very

good question, sir. And let me just say, when we work with some of the teams, ⁓ it's really funny because sometimes David will get called in to work with the teams and the upper management don't want to be a part. And I'm like, that doesn't really work that way. And here's why, because I believe that self-awareness is the first step. And, one of the things that I would ask, that business owner that may be listening in is how do I respond? How do you respond under pressure?

when it is time and pressure, because pressure does happen to all of us, right? In business, no matter where we are, life does happen. But in those times, do you create safety or fear, right? Because the lack of emotional intelligence, it normally shows up in high turnover. It shows up in gossip among employees. It shows up in avoidance.

Mm-hmm.

Okay.

and a healthy leader can actually begin to help create an environment where people feel like they're seen or heard. So that's where I would start. I would start with looking at how do you react under pressure? Because here's the thing, this is why it really matters, David, because owners actually set the emotional thermostat of their business. So I normally tell people,

If I see how the owner responds, I could probably tell you how the employees are responding. Because employees literally mirror the culture model by leadership.

I can kind of see that in some of the jobs I've had and how it's interesting, one of the jobs I've had, the owner, very domineering and all the managers are too and the supervisors are too. It's like, wow, that's quite the deal. Everybody's like in charge, but like you said, if I make a mistake, how are they gonna respond? Are they gonna pat you on the back saying, hey, I hope you learned from that, let's go on or do they chew you out? ⁓

Right.

Big difference there.

Well, well, and here's where I think here's where I think we miss it sometime even as business owners too, because we'll handle the employees like that, not realizing again that they're we they're going to mirror us. But then when they hand our clients like that, right, the one that's bringing in the funds, then we have a problem with them because they weren't supposed to handle it like that. Right. So it's kind of actually funny. So so what we try to do is help people to develop soft skills.

Mmm, okay.

so that they stop just managing. Listen, man, sometimes we got to control things. I get that. But it's also important to empower your people so that they can actually become problem solvers and not just task doers.

Sure, yep, absolutely.

You mentioned about two different operating systems. ⁓ How would you define a culture that honors God? I mean, what would that look like different than a worldly culture?

I think that one of the system, let me just put it like this, the world system normally is fear driven, right? And that's why I say pay attention to how you respond under pressure because it could be self-focused and it could be very performance based, right? So whereas within the kingdom system, we're looking at something that's more faith centered, right? ⁓ Spirit led. Now, does that still bring in money? Eventually, yes.

Gotcha.

Yes, 100 % it does because when, your people can begin connecting with you and become problem solvers, then when your, when your clients come in, they're going to see that I have a problem solver here. have someone that's not going to just talk to me anyway. So I, so I believe those two systems are completely separate. However, we can operate in both of them. Right. So we still can be kind to people in the other one. However, ⁓

within within that kingdom system, I like to say we have some extra help.

Yeah, it was interesting. I've studied and read through, Deuteronomy 28 a little bit. And prosperity was what God promised his people. You obey me, you follow my statutes, my laws, my judgments. I'm going to bless you in your fields, in your vineyards, in your house, in your cattle. Everything you have is going to prosper. But you know, when I look at that, the focus was obedience. The outcome was prosperity.

The focus was not, I'm going to be prosperous. I'm going to do this to be prosperous. But the focus was on you obey God, do what God tells you to do. God says, I will bless you. I'll bless your socks off. What was really interesting was verse two. It says, these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you. They will overtake you. Like somebody running behind you is going to overtake you. And it's like, you can't help it. You will be prosperous. But there again,

The focus is on glorifying God, obeying God, loving God, fearing God. And I've seen it in businesses as well.

Yeah. And

let me just say this, that is key because one of the biggest differences I don't want to miss in those two systems that we're talking about is in the kingdom system, then your identity is core, right? Because your identity is found in Christ, which means that now you don't have to operate out of the fear base. So even in Deuteronomy, the reason why people would run away from that is because they don't feel secure.

Mm, yep.

Right? They don't feel safe. And it's really, it's really amazing how all of these principles actually apply to every area of our lives, man, including businesses. You know, I normally tell the story, David, of the two trees, you know, those two trees actually in that garden and garden of Eden. And one of those trees actually was about, about performance. Right. ⁓ One of those trees were about identity. And from the time

that Adam and Eve, mankind, male and female, stepped on the outside of God where they were secure, right? They were naked the whole time according to Genesis 2 and 25. They weren't ashamed. They had nothing to fear. They wasn't blaming each other. There was no reason for performance at this point. But the moment that they actually stepped outside of God, then you had all this fear come in. You had blaming. It was Eve's fault. The woman you gave me, it was the serpent's fault.

Yep.

And from that point forward, we begin performance. So when Jesus actually came in, in Matthew 16, 33, and yes, this is 100 % for business owners as well. And he kind of flipped it. He said, look, see key first. So he was telling them again, just what you're saying, Dave, I would bless your socks off even in your business, but see key first. You can't do business like everyone else does. But if you don't understand these, cause I personally believe every one of these soft skills actually comes from the Lord.

Yeah, yep.

Sure. Yep.

All

wisdom, all wisdom truly comes from Him. What has occurred though is many times the world is using now what God gave us, but just not including Him in Him.

Yep, and so it's okay for them to use what God says. We just can't use their wisdom. You know, gotta go God's way. Yeah, so.

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Because it really belongs to him anyway. If it's

true wisdom, we just giving him the credit for it because we're not operating. Remember, we're operating back because what Jesus actually did when he came, he returned us back to that relationship that mankind first had.

Yep, yes, guy walked in the garden to have relationship with him. ⁓ So how do we start? If we come across you list this podcast like, ooh, my culture is not as good as it could be. What are some first steps we can take to start to head down a better culture in our business?

the SO.

Okay, I ⁓ believe, first of all, thanks. That's a very good question. I believe to get clarification. ⁓ If you not clarify where you're going, if there's no clarity on where you're going, I could almost guarantee you, you can't bring your employees anywhere. One of the reasons, and I say that, I believe is beautifully, I normally use McDonald's Corporation as an example because Ray Kroc,

actually was one of the ones who actually began this whole franchise things. And what they did is they promised their customers ⁓ QSC, quality service and cleanliness. And then they made sure that there was clarity on this is what's going to be on the big map. Want to make it that simple, right? That was clarity and even your customers need that. So I believe clarification actually is first. ⁓ The second thing I normally talk to people about and when we work with people,

We help them to understand what collaboration actually looks like after you have that, actually after you have that clarity, because you're not in this alone. In fact, I normally tell business owners, if you said God gave you a vision and you're the only one could do it, you may need to go back and talk with the Lord.

Okay. Yeah.

Okay. Because here's, here's,

here's the thing. Our God believes in multiplication, right. And, being fruitful and multiply. So you cannot be the only one that do it. You can be the owner of the company, but I promised you, you do not have all of the answers. So I, so again, clarification and then we help them with collaboration. And I think the third thing I would tell them, at least to start with is once you get it, then be consistent about it.

It's a journey, especially when you're talking about building culture and people can get very discouraged and say, that it doesn't work. And it's not so much that it's not working, but some of us, ⁓ our belief systems, man, we've had those belief systems forever. Right? So just because you watch a podcast, just because you may hire a relationship coach or a counselor, ⁓ this is a journey. ⁓

This is a journey. So that's what I would actually tell people. I would start off with at least those. Get clarification. And I'm sure that if they are part of what you're doing, they already are getting clarification. ⁓ The Bible is full of clarification. Holy Spirit is gonna give you clarification. You have people like me and my team, we're gonna help you have clarity so that you can have clarification and help building your teams. Because one of the other things I found, is with the ⁓ business owners that are struggling.

There's either two things in place. There's either a broken system. They're trying to build on performance. And I hear a lot of, well, I can't find good helpers. There are no good workers out there. And I'm like, that's not true. So there's either a broken system or there's no system at all. And it's really challenging trying to, again, bring people somewhere to where you don't really know where you're going at. So we try to help people find out.

Mm-hmm.

where exactly their business is. Because if you were even coming to my home and your GPS wasn't working and you called me and said, Oscar, you know, I'm in Louisiana, brother, but where you at? First thing I'm going to need to know, David, is where are you, bro? And if you can't tell me that, if you don't have clarification, then I really can't help you. But then once we do that, get some people on your team that maybe not even totally agree with you. But but they're good for you.

so that you can collaborate with people that don't even sound totally like you. Get some people on that team and when you know that's your people, then be consistent about teaching them and learning and growing and have the adaptability, because that's a part of a soft skill too, to continue to actually grow. So that's where I will start.

Okay, yep. you say clarity, when you say systems, is that systems for your company or systems to get along with each other?

I think actually both. I think actually both because here's the thing. ⁓ If there's no system at all in place, what are you operating on? Some of us in this, especially the entrepreneurs, I have a heart for entrepreneur, Dave, because I'm going to tell you, sometimes they have so much to do. And it's almost like, you're telling me I got one more thing to do, man? I don't even know if I want to listen to the rest of this. One more thing to do.

Well, here's what I try to tell people. First of all, calm, calm down, take a breath, breathe in and breathe out. I'm actually using social skills right now with you. we were actually practicing some right now because what I'm suggesting to you is not to give you more bricks, not more tasks to do, but I'm trying to give you the mortar that's going to go in between those bricks so that they can be held together and that your team will be stronger.

you

So yes, ⁓ so the system for both, ⁓ for relationships, for businesses, if there is not one, take a look at the system that you have. What soft skills are you actually teaching? ⁓ Which ones are you good at as well?

Okay. As you're working with people, have you noticed any common mistakes that people make when they're trying to start to, I'm gonna be emotionally intelligent, that they start to do that and go down the road. Do you see any mistakes that people make that we can avoid?

I would say the first one is not understanding that this is a journey. I think we tend to going back to that consistent thing. I think we try things and kind of cut and paste. And if it doesn't work, then we're moving on to the next thing. ⁓ That probably is the biggest one. So where, what I like to do, especially when I'm working with people, Dave, I think this is key. And I want to give this to your people as well. If they try this with their employees.

Hmm.

or even with their spouses or whomever else that they may be working with is before you start off with what's wrong, look at the growth. Look at the growth. And I say that because I'll give you an example when I'm working with teachers within the school. I had this one kid, man, who he was the fighter in the school. If that was a fight, he was involved. So ⁓ we finally got him to start.

learning to regulate himself and he wasn't fighting anymore. But we would get calls because his referrals were piling up because he was cursing. right. And I'm like, yeah. So they like this stuff that you're teaching doesn't work. And I'm like, ⁓ actually does. he's not punching people.

Yeah, he's cursing but he's not punching them. That's a step in the right direction.

Right, right. So,

so my thing is, is, and this is why I think people make the mistake to answer your question is that scalability. So just because you're learning something new, don't expect every one of your employees, don't expect you give yourself some grace to be able to know this is a journey. I teach, I normally teach people is that, you know, in Christ, our position changed. Our position is we are seated in heavenly places, but our behavior.

Mm-hmm.

That needs some working. Yes. Always. Oh yeah.

That's going to be some work in that is a journey.

I would say to start off with that, and to be open, to be open, listen, man, I normally tell people even before they work with me, if what you're doing is working, keep doing it. But if it's not, it, you, may want to ask yourself some questions, take a very hard look and start asking those questions. How do I actually respond to pressure? Am I creating fear or am I creating safety?

I think I already know the answer to that, but they have to answer that on their own.

Sure, fear versus safety, I like that, I like that. So one last focusing question, what is one thing that we can do to start to apply these things to our life and business today, to start to apply increasing our emotional intelligence today?

I would say ⁓ culture is actually a silent teacher. So take inventory. Rather than trying to do another thing, just take inventory. Take you a day off, step back or bring someone else in, someone that can be honest with you enough to where you will trust them, right? Not anyone that's gonna just be a critic, but someone that you can trust.

Okay.

and ask them, ask them, pick one of the social, I mean, you can Google this if you want, you can chat GPT this, look it up, emotional intelligence, look at what some of that is, and then ask someone, you can, pull a customer on the side, someone that you can trust, tell me about what do you see, you still like undercover boss, because I think that actually helped. Tell me what it is you see when you walk into my, wherever it is you are.

And then listen, and then once you see that, ⁓ if you don't know how to, well, well, seek help and, you can always do this alone. I always tell people, Dave, you don't have to work with the coach. You don't have to work with the therapist. You don't have to, but if you're not getting it along and you need some help to come along, then actually seek help. would be the second thing I would say. ⁓ so which is goes back to those three C's brother clarification to where, know, where you're at, what's going on. ⁓ and then collaborate.

That's six years, yeah.

We didn't just show up and did this. This is people that had to learn to trust us first because that's what social skills does. It helps build trust so that we can now walk together and that you will trust me.

You know, and that takes time. I think if somebody asks, what can I do better? Or ask somebody to come in and evaluate their business, I think that's already taken the first step to making a better place. ⁓ Oscar, thank you so much for your time, your encouragement, ⁓ all that you've shared with us. And friends, your next steps to put into practice, what you've heard is look at the show notes. There's going to be information on how to contact Oscar and learn more about him.

Yes sir.

and sign up for the newsletter, because it's a great way to communicate, not miss out on future episodes. And friends, that's all we have for now. I hope you've been inspired to redeem your business, redeem your time, buy it back, and walk worthy of God's great name. Bye for now.