Lynn was the chairperson of...
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Lynn was the chairperson of the personnel department of a large manufacturing company. It was her responsibility to see that the employees were able to communicate openly and honestly with one another so that they could work together efficiently and co-operatively.
Lynn worked proactively. Whenever she saw a conflict in the making she stepped in to help the protagonists come to an understanding before their differences interfered with their job. In her experience, differences of opinion that weren't talked about candidly often festered under the surface until they erupted in a full-fledged argument. When that happened, words that should have been left unsaid were frequently spoken in anger. This often resulted in hurt feelings or misunderstandings that were hard to forgive and even harder to forget. That's why it was so much better to talk openly about a situation. Even if protagonists had to agree to disagree, it was still better than talking about it behind someone's back. All too often that resulted in groups of people taking sides against each other. Then no one won and everyone lost.
Lynn was also the chairperson of her congregation's church council. In many ways her position on the church council was like her job because part of her job description involved helping the congregational members to communicate openly and honestly with one another. Lynn had thought that that part of her role would be easy. But it wasn't. The church's members were more reluctant to talk about their differences with one another than the employees were at the company. Somewhere along the line they had learned that Christians didn't disagree with one another. But that wasn't right, was it?
Lynn worked proactively. Whenever she saw a conflict in the making she stepped in to help the protagonists come to an understanding before their differences interfered with their job. In her experience, differences of opinion that weren't talked about candidly often festered under the surface until they erupted in a full-fledged argument. When that happened, words that should have been left unsaid were frequently spoken in anger. This often resulted in hurt feelings or misunderstandings that were hard to forgive and even harder to forget. That's why it was so much better to talk openly about a situation. Even if protagonists had to agree to disagree, it was still better than talking about it behind someone's back. All too often that resulted in groups of people taking sides against each other. Then no one won and everyone lost.
Lynn was also the chairperson of her congregation's church council. In many ways her position on the church council was like her job because part of her job description involved helping the congregational members to communicate openly and honestly with one another. Lynn had thought that that part of her role would be easy. But it wasn't. The church's members were more reluctant to talk about their differences with one another than the employees were at the company. Somewhere along the line they had learned that Christians didn't disagree with one another. But that wasn't right, was it?
