I had the pleasure of interviewing Shawne Duperon, and
Deborah Welch, an expert and author on the topic of forgiveness in the
workplace. Deborah so eloquently described
forgiveness as the process of moving through grief, instead of suffering,
blaming oneself or others. Forgiveness
results in freedom.
Deborah talked with such passion about the importance of stories;
in fact, she has been collecting stories of forgiveness for almost three
decades. Stories are a powerful form of
communication and trust building. She
shared her story, one that involved a traumatic loss. She explained that the
journey for forgiveness, forgiving self or others, is different for each
person. Through her journey to forgive
herself, the puzzle pieces began to fit together, and in letting go and
forgiving, life opened up.
The benefits to a workplace culture that embraces
forgiveness are many, but at the top of the list are:
- - Improved relationships
- - Increased trust
- - Reduced stress, guilt, suffering and pain
- - Greater sense of synergy
- - Safety to learn and grow
Deborah and Shawne offered a variety of tips to foster a culture
of forgiveness at work, these are my personal favorites:
-
Start the conversation. Create a culture whereby
vulnerable conversations can take place, where team members and leaders can
talk about their mistakes, and grow through them.
-
Silence the unhelpful, negative and self
defeating chatter in our minds.
-
Use clean and clear statements of apology (or
drama free statements)
-
Breathe, take time to process the situation
before reacting on an emotional level
Children
get the concept of forgiveness, to them it is simple, or as Shawne would say,
it is clean. Take five minutes to watch
this video; you’ll see what I mean. www.projectforgive.com
To find out more about Deborah Welch, and her
phenomenal book FORGIVENESS AT WORK: Stories of the Power, Possibility, and
Practice of Forgiveness in the Workplace ,
visit:
And you can learn more about Shawne at
www.shawnetv.com
