No Malice - Great Character

Abba Pemen often used to say that,
"Malice could never overcome malice.
So if anyone acts maliciously toward you,
Do good to them in return;
For in this way you will extinguish malice
By kindness. "

Sayings of the Elders

Small pox was all but eliminated from our world which resulted recently in a scare that it could become the next deadly biological warfare agent. Wouldn’t it be great that malice was so rare and extinguished that fear broke out when anyone mentioned its possible return?

Malice can be extinguished for where there is no fuel there is no fire. As leaders we can learn many valuable lessons by extinguishing malice, anger and other selfish, self defending motives and emotions. Here are a few:

• Delete malicious email and simply don’t return it.
• Never reply, even when a reply is mandated by courts, lawyers or circumstance, when you are full of anger or self-defense. Even when you are selflish, humble and calm, don’t send the third letter but maybe the fourth.
• Do not try to “get someone back” even though you have the most creative, awesome one liner that proves you are right.
• Never be afraid to say, “It’s unfair and not true,” as you toss the letter into the trash.
• Get comfortable gracefully, stopping a conversation with something like, “I know that I don’t want to do this today – I am sure you don’t want to either, how about we talk tomorrow.”
• Talk facts not feelings.

We will become a target of maliciousness but we do not have to propagate maliciousness. Instead, we can exterminate it with grace and love. In the end, we will all get more done for our organizations.