Peoria Times
24 RELIGION
November 4, 2021
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Emerging leaders and second chances Columnist
Here is an unusual story that happened some years ago. An executive secretary to the president of a large corporation made a costly mistake. It cost the company $50,000. She was devastated and brought her letter of resignation to the president, explaining, “I realize what a dumb thing I did. I am very sorry. I know that the mistake cost the company $50,000. So here is my letter of resignation.” “Are you crazy?” he thundered. “I have been teaching and mentoring you every week. Now, you have made a big mistake. I have just invested $50,000 in your education, and you’re going to leave? No, ma’am. You are not going to leave. You have cost me too much to lose my investment in you.” So, she stayed and became an extraordinary executive secretary and person-
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bit more like the president? Forgiveness makes the future possible. Great leaders know there is a cost for developing other great leaders and employees. Jesus is our supreme example of this. His heart of compassion acted on behalf of another. The investment was high, but the returns were and continue to be higher than the investment. To those aspiring leaders, allow me to share a bit of advice. First, be teachable, not offended. Most people learn by their failures, not their successes. Second, strive for excellence, not perfection. Your growth on the inside fuels your growth on the outside. Finally, those who try and fail at something are infinitely better than those who try to do nothing and succeed. Aspiring leaders, if you want to make everyone happy but react negatively to constructive criticism, please don’t be a leader. Sell ice cream. The only perfect leaders are the ones you don’t know very well. Those leaders went through the same learning curve as you are now.
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The president even accepted the responsibility for her mistake. He understood with privilege comes responsibility. As a result, he could foster a defining moment in a new executive secretary’s life. He knew the secretary would grow from this incident, not just go through this incident. I wish every mentor and their students worked together this way. Teamwork makes the dream work. Jesus accepted responsibility for the 12 disciples under Him too. When Peter denied the Lord, Jesus prayed for him that he would not lose his faith. Later, when Peter foolishly cut off a soldier’s ear with a sword, Jesus supernaturally healed the soldier’s ear. Jesus, in effect, was saying to Peter, “Peter, I will repair your mistake because you are going to learn from this experience and grow.” After this incident, Peter grew and changed the world. I realize that some mistakes can be deadly, but honestly, most aren’t. I also recognize that if the secretary repeatedly made the same mistake, the president would have needed to take another course of action. But couldn’t we be a
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al assistant. One might say that is the cheapest $50,000 the president ever spent. I love this woman’s response. She chose to be teachable, not defensive. She took responsibility for what she did. She grew through the problem and didn’t repeat it. She humbled herself and then got promoted, just like the Bible says in many places. Her humility and willingness to take responsibility took her to the top. She expected the worst but received the best. Why? She was honest and hubris-free. But it takes two parties to make this work. Notice the president in this article. He wasn’t condescending, petty or critical. The president realized that people occasionally stumble and make mistakes, sometimes huge mistakes. He knew there was no such thing as perfect people or a perfect business. Everyone is in the process of growing and learning. The mentor allowed his executive secretary to learn, and that allowed the executive secretary to grow. It takes a big picture leader demonstrating authentic leadership to do that.
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