THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Forgiveness

“A mistake is always forgivable, rarely excusable and always unacceptable. ” - Robert Fripp


TOPIC OF THE DAY

Where Have All The Honest Managers Gone?

I well remember as a young bank clerk many years ago, sitting at my desk one morning. Around me were the sounds of hustle and bustle of a busy office – people were sipping their coffee (in those days it was instant!) opening the mail (ah, for the days before email!) and telling of the events of last evening or their trip to work that morning. As a morning person, it was my best time of the day when I was at my most positive, creative and effective best, so I had my head down and bum up. Time later for relaxing. Suddenly, the air was split with an earth shattering yell. My usually very quiet, reserved manager, had come out of his office, red in the face and yelling "Who did this?" Everyone stopped dead. When he recovered enough to tell us what the "this" was, I discovered to my horror that it was obviously something that I had done that had upset him. Apparently, I had made a blunder that would impact one of our best customers most unfavourably. I very tentatively, put my hand up "Mm, mm, mm, me, Sir", I managed to stammer. "Into my office, now!" he replied.

By the time we had both sat down in his office, he had recovered his composure somewhat. To my great surprise, he started the conversation with "Bob, I really appreciate your honesty in admitting to this mistake. I am very disappointed that it has happened, but with some luck, we can probably correct it. Thank you for owning up to your mistake so readily".

Read on .. .. .


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Corporate governance and stewardship by N. Balasubramanian.