As a Christian, over the years, I have struggled to work in Corporate. It appears to me, that the culture is one of Cover your a$# affectionally known as CYA. And throw everyone under the bus in order to cover one's short comings. Some call it politics. Some call it playing the corporate game. I call it a green light to treat fellow human beings as you wish, good or bad.
Either way, when the majority choose the bad way, it fosters a spirit of dissension rather than lets work together in the spirit of collaboration and working together to achieve a common goal. When I started writing this article. it was based on a particular experience at my previous employer, which was a smaller company than I was use to.
I initially thought going smaller would be a huge benefit. It is a small company so I was sure it would be more intimate, more of a family feel and for all intents and purposes it use to be that. Best of all, the leader is a man of faith. Wonderful to all who encounter him, in fact much of his executive team say but a few are just like him. Every family has it's fair share of dysfunction and a small family feel company is no different. And like every small or large dysfunctional family it only takes a few bad eggs to spoil the broth.
1. A few months back I wrote about an incidence with a member of my leadership team. If you remember, I mentioned that during a visit to my corporate office I had an incident with a senior leader which left me more and more anxious with every encounter with her. Needless to say, though I did not speak up, it was a great learning experience and a situation that I have vowed to never allow to happen again. Yes, allow. You see there are many parables in the Bible surrounding forgiveness. Many parables surrounding forgiveness I believe are misinterpreted as a free for all take abuse at all times type of thinking. But I believe differently, in every story in the Bible, Jesus always spoke the truth. Where he saw injustice, he spoke up. It is for this reason I truly believe in speaking your truth. Because injustice for one means no justice for all.
2. What I do believe is that, when there is injustice, you must forgive instantly. This is best exemplified by th parable of the unforgiving servant "21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?"
22 Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[a]
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2. 23 "Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[b] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
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2. 26 "At this the servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' 27 The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
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2. 28 "But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[c] He grabbed him and began t
o choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.
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2. 29 "His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.'
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2. 30 "But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
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2. 32 "Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to.33 Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
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2. 35 "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart" Matthew 18: 21-35.
The thing is in corporate America, where a spirit of dissension is fostered, there is no friendship. In my situation, lots of my work friends saw. They witnessed the "mal treatment" but no one spoke up. In fact, most were eager to add information true of otherwise as long as it meant the mal treatment was not focused on them; friends or otherwise. But where a spirit of "accountability and support" is fostered rather than a see of Judases you may have a flock of Peters i.e. "steadfast rock"
