The Words of Kook Jin Moon
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The Words of Kook Jin Moon |
The trend today: Convergence In the past, business philosophy and religious philosophy were very divergent. In the modern era, they are coming together. Neither the organization nor the individual can just pursue their own interests. Rather, both exist / live for the sake of greater good. For businesses to be profitable, they have to get individuals to work for the greater good -- the good of the company. We practice the basics of management There are 5 rules which we encourage our managers to follow.
1. Choose results over status.
2.
Choose accountability over popularity.
3. Choose clarity over
certainty.
4. Choose productive conflict over harmony.
5.
Pursue trust over invulnerability.
Operating philosophy... Businesses have to make money. If we make money, and then we invest in the operations of our church, that is the right order, that fulfills it.
Church growth vs. decline... Starting with reforms and my younger brother's work (Hyung Jin Moon) in the ministry, that (decline) has been turned around.
Confidence in future... We have come so far doing everything wrong. Now, we are starting to implement good practices... management standards. The results are showing immediately. If we have 100 years of good management, our church growth will be phenomenal.
On other religions... I appreciate the criticism and ridicule of other religions. If people can help point out where we have problems in our organization, they help improve our organization.
Business operational problems... Instead of solving fundamental business problems, they just borrowed more money. We focus on making a good, fundamental organization, a good profit structure. And we work on reducing risk, reducing our debt exposure. The Tong-il Group is a supporting organization for the Unification Church. Businesses that we carry in the future are businesses that are synergistic with our church work, for example: leisure companies, construction companies (because we have a lot of real estate). Source of inspiration is God and True Parents So, what kind of people do I respect? We have lots of members in Japan who have sent money. Their faith is very good and they have continuously supported our church growth. The Korean Church is not a church that sends money to foreign missions; it receives money from abroad.
Testifies to younger brother, Hyung Jin Moon: “That kind of strong spiritual leadership gives us great hope for our future.”
Chief Executive Officer and the purpose of life... I don’t work for every individual who works in my company; I work for the benefit of the entire company / organization. In order to save the entire company or group, I have to let some people go. First as individuals, I feel sorry for their individual situations. Personally, I have had to fire many people myself. I have been a CEO since 1992. When you fire someone, some persons become very upset, some just cry, and some just leave quietly. But that is my job.
What do I enjoy personally? My gun company. I started the business; I built it up from scratch and I hold all the patents. I built the market, got the first customers. It must be in my blood. You have world peace when people who are good and righteous have the means and the arms to defend themselves. I started Kahr Pistols and made pistols. In America, we have the second amendment to the Constitution, the right to bear arms. That second amendment is not well understood in other parts of the world. But there is a specific reason why the Founding Fathers (of America) included the right to bear arms as the second amendment. The first amendment is the freedom of religion. The second amendment is the freedom to bear arms. The reason why the right to bear arms holds such prominence in the U.S. culture and in the U.S. Constitution is because the ultimate safeguard against a tyrannical government is the people’s right to revolt against the government.
In my leisure time, I enjoy shooting, hunting. But since coming to Korea, I cannot do what I enjoy most. So, I am trying to learn some new hobbies. I invented the smallest gun in the world and hold six patents on it. Because of its unique technology, many people want to buy it.
Right now, after coming to Korea, I am a public worker. I am volunteering my time. I do not get paid. We are setting up a system of management which is based on transparency and checks and balances. We only do what is in the best interest of the entire church.