Grace Gone Wild at Work

I screwed up at work last month.

I looked at the calendar and my stomach dropped. The annual report (a giant project) needed to be in hand in less than 2 weeks (it takes up a week to print) and we were approaching the Thanksgiving break (3 days off work). The problem? We had not even shown the client initial design concepts and the copy was not ready.

It’s not that we had not been meeting about it and working on it, but my lack of project management was glaring. Sure, I could give lots of excuses – like the fact that we had just launched a brand new website for the entire university… and my senior writer had just returned from maternity leave… and my designer was being pulled in too many little directions. But the buck stops with me and I screwed up.

I knew I couldn’t cry. I had to push through and find a way to pull a rabbit out of a hat. So I hired an outside designer who could work on it over the break and sent everyone the exact hours at which they would need to be available to turn around feedback within the hour. I had the Vice President for External Relations (my boss), the Assoc. Vice President for University Advancement, and several others working over the Thanksgiving break due to my lack of planning.

My boss is very slow to anger, but I knew that if there were ever a time to give me a good talking to, this would be it. I braced myself for our scheduled catch up meeting – ready to just nod my head and take the beating I surely deserved.

Some friends at church have a little phrase they use for stories that are told of the renewing power of grace that we experience or witness: “Grace Gone Wild Stories.” That day, I experienced grace gone wild at work.

I sat down and my boss just said, “How are you doing?” It wasn’t just your normal intro chit chat. It was different. I knew in the back of my head that this had to be a warm up for the beat down I was about to get. We talked about whether or not I was feeling burned out or under challenged. I finally had to ask: “Are you asking because of the debacle with the annual report.” He responded with: “Well, when you see things going along so well for so long and then there is this blip, you have to check in and make sure things are ok.”

I could feel the grace in that moment. He probably doesn’t even know how much of an example he set for me that day. I walked away experiencing compassion and concern for my well-being after I had been the one who messed up. In his wisdom, he probably knew that I already recognized the issue and would find a way to manage it in the future. He chose to check in with how I was doing. And, in the end, it made me want to work harder for him.

 What is your automatic reaction when someone wrongs you in the office? When is the last time you showed grace instead of anger when someone’s error made you work over the holiday?

I challenge you to find new and creative ways to show God’s love to the fallible people in your sphere of influence.

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