We should remember that God’s grace is different than ours. In the New Testament, grace almost always comes from God. Grace means taking steps early and often to help the team succeed. It’s in nobody’s best interest to give out unlimited chances. Grace should have entered the process a lot earlier. Grace doesn’t mean I own his failures, but it does mean I own my role in helping him do the best he can. It takes more work, but it’s always better to have smaller conversations early than a big conversation when it’s too late. When we finally got to the performance review, I couldn’t give him a second chance because I had been giving him second, third, and fourth chances in my head for weeks before that conversation. I knew this guy was on a bad trajectory, but I didn’t do anything about it. This is where I missed the mark and set both of us up for failure. Think about grace as a gift you can give, a tool to empower, not a penalty to withhold. Do the people on your team know where they stand? Do they know what it takes to succeed? Do they know where they can take a risk? It also means letting team members know you have their best interests in mind. Giving grace means giving your people what they need to succeed, whether that’s specific encouragement, constructive feedback, a new assignment, or a second chance. We give grace because we want people to be the best they can be, not because we want to avoid a tough conversation. So what does it mean to give grace to other people? It starts with having their best interest in mind.
This same word can also mean “blessing,” doing something for someone with no expectation of return. We’ve been given grace so that we can glorify God in everything we do. The author of Hebrews writes, “it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace.” Grace is active and empowering. Sometimes it’s defined as “unmerited favor” or God giving us what we don’t deserve. Paul opens with the words “grace and peace” in almost every one of his thirteen letters. Grace is one of the most important concepts in the New Testament. Grace reaches people where they are and takes them to where God wants them to be.
The challenge for each of us, flawed as we are, is to see God in other people and treat them as He would – gently, honestly and seeking the best for them. I thought Christians were supposed to give grace? Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
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