Failure, Forgiveness and the Future

This past week Flatlanders were focused on the fate of former Rider GM Eric Tillman. Mr. Tillman failed morally, and this ended his work with our beloved football team. It's a team that has known this kind of failure before - from players mostly. They are much more expendable than management - with the exception of coaches, who often are changed as frequently as defensive linemen change their lucky socks - which is to say at least annually. Losing Mr. Tillman has seemed to hurt people more and shaken hope and optimism deeper than any of the player dismissals I've witnessed in the last 7+ years.

The recent feelings in Flatland regarding this are, I think, rooted in the sense of disappointment created because Mr. Tillman was supposed to be part of a change in the organization's policies and culture that was intended to deal with these very issues. Rightly recognizing the very public nature of sport and the lives of those involved in it - even those charged with the off-field tasks necessary to operate a professional franchise - the Rider organization drafted a new policy on these matters, and Eric Tillman was a proponent of having that policy adopted by the Riders. Now he is - most sadly and ironically - the first one it had to be applied to.

I think such a policy is an important thing for any organization - not just in this day and age, but in any day and age. Personal character always influences professional behavior. Our recent history is littered with examples in every area of endeavor - finance, politics, manufacturing, religion, entertainment. We have always known that this matters. Now with an insatiable 24-hour-a-day-365-days-a-year media industry that craves grist for its mill, there is no life that is immune from scrutiny and, because of the internet, no issue that can escape public opinion and reaction.

And there is no place for forgiveness and restoration. All is retribution and hard, cold justice - or justice denied - depending upon your perspective. Few organizations give thought to the path of repentance, recompense and restoration, even though many organizations recognize the significant investment that lies in employees - even employees who fail. A broken machine might be repaired or restored if the investment seems fiscally sound, but people are more expendable it seems.

But would the public accept the repentant, forgiven and restored person? Would they allow time and space for healing and change or would they demand their same voyeuristic position they enjoy during the accusation and conviction stages. My guess is that they would clamor for this right, and little healing or change of any true consequence could come in such a bubble. Reality TV shows notwithstanding, there is an overwhelming list of failures who have shown change and progress in the eye of media scrutiny only to end up wrecked in life's ditch for the same reasons they were so fascinating to watch in the first place.

True character needs to be developed out of the public eye. If the only time you can behave is when someone is watching you then you need to be in prison.

Will Mr. Tillman repent and offer restitution? Will he seek forgiveness and reconciliation? Will he find redemption and restoration? We shall see, but it remains that these possibilities will happen - if they happen - elsewhere. And the benefits of those efforts, hard won, will be enjoyed elsewhere as well.

Shalom