I Was Wrong; Can You Forgive Me?

These are evidently the most difficult seven words to pull together in our relationships with each other. Losing candidates and their supporters; executives from companies that have gone bellies up; and people in general who have made bad choices all have difficulty saying these seven little words. Even spouses find it hard at times to say this to their partner as it has been stigmatized by a society intent on always winning and always being # 1.

USA Today ran an article on their business page on October 21, 2008 entitled, "Why sorry isn't in many CEO's vocabularies". The best reasons given for this is that the CEO's fear prison; financial loss from legal disputes; and defamation that would hinder future employment. So the accepted way to handle problems when you screw up is "deny, deny, deny" and hope that you can find a lawyer that will keep all pursuers twisting in the wind until they give up. Would all of the executives from these failed companies have us believe that none of this is their fault? Funny, when they pocketed more than $100 million in compensation, it seemed like they were happy to take all the credit then!

Part of the reason for encouraging this is that the need for cleaning out the bad habits and taking responsibility for the mistakes in corporate America may just be the helping hand that will mark the end of this era, and start a new one on more transparent and solid ground. Wall Street and Main Street are inescapably yoked together and the need for understanding the culture on both sides has never been more important. This should not be as hard as we are making it!

Matthew 11:28-30 (RSV) "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Monday Morning Message Sent 11/10/08

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