Forgiveness In Business

The Magic of Forgiveness

Who hasn’t been wounded by what someone else had done or said? It may have been a stranger or someone you love. It may have caused physical or emotional pain. These injuries can leave you feeling angry and vengeful. In any case, you can hang on to the resentment or you can choose to let it go and forgive. Forgiveness allows you to move on, so the injury doesn’t fester and cause more harm.

Forgiveness doesn’t mean the offender is no longer guilty, should not be appropriately punished or that you must make up and be friends again. It simply releases you to move on with peace. It is something that happens within you that will alter your outward actions. In time, perhaps compassion can help heal the relationship.

We don’t hear a lot about forgiveness in business books or leadership seminars but “when emotional intelligence and attitudes of forgiveness become a way of life among the leaders of a company, its employees experience a noticeable uptick in job satisfaction, per a South African study.” And that’s smart business according to Krister Ungerboeck in his article “How to Incorporate Forgiveness in Business”, Sept 14, 2018 for HR Daily Advisor.

So how does a business leader employ the magic of forgiveness? Manpreet Dhillon has a few ideas in her article, “Forgiveness As A Key Leadership Attribute”, Jul 16, 2018 for Forbes. The first step is remembering that the people that work for you are human. They have their own faults and personal issues that they bring with them. Everyone makes mistakes and forgiving those mistakes shows that we have faith in them to do better.

When a mistake happens, make sure to ask enough questions to discover why they did it and the circumstances surrounding the event. It might lead to a need for further education or there might be extenuating circumstances of which you aren’t aware. Sincere conversation can aid understanding and build up the relationship.

Remembering all the good things that an employee has done can also aid in forgiving a single transgression. When employees are forgiven when they make mistakes, they are more likely to be willing to take risks in the future. Without risk there is no growth, no break-through ideas or new advances.

Encouraging forgiveness among associates can improve the work environment and the relationships between them. Forgiveness can help reduce the pettiness that can invade a team when competition is encouraged over cooperation. While you can’t expect your team to embrace an attitude of forgiveness overnight, you can still start using the magic of forgiveness by releasing your own grudges and encouraging others to do the same.

This month, find a grudge that needs to be released and use forgiveness to set it, and yourself, free.