"Forgiveness heals the soul. It eliminates fear. That's what makes it such a powerful weapon."
So said Nelson Mandela when he set out to build a rainbow nation to supersede apartheid 20 years ago almost to the day.
Forgiveness is not the hottest topic in the work environment. More often it's the converse: "Don't get mad: get even".
And we don't have to look too far to find 'them': the leader that put us down, the colleague that let us down, the politician that got us down.
Walking in the country, I once found a lost dog toy - a rubber ball on a rope.
Reminded of a past business disappointment, I was prompted to 'let go'.
Doggedly hanging on usually means staying bound to the people on the other end of the rope. Grrr...
And it is one of the most frequent causes of workplace stress and relationship breakdown.
Instead of taking the grudge toxin and hoping the other person keels over, take the tonic of forgiveness to boost your energy, peace of mind and focus.
Let's correct a few misnomers: 1) Forgiveness doesn't condone the offender's acts or let them off.
2) You don't necessarily have to forgive someone to their face (they probably think there's nothing to forgive), although this sometimes helps.
And 3) the relationship doesn't always have to go on as it was before.
But it's you that's set free when, from the heart, you choose to let go.
Why not start the week by identifying a business relationship past or present in which you need to forgive someone or an organisation?
Then let go of the ball-on-a-rope early next time.
As Martin Luther King once said: "Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a permanent attitude."
