We were reviewing last quarter’s customer retention. My client, the owner of a cleaning business, had lost a particularly large and lucrative customer to a startup led by a recently terminated employee, with whom my client had a non-compete.

Immediately, another client popped into my head. The CEO of a global manufacturer based in Houston, he had at this summer’s leadership meeting relayed to his team in animated terms how he was responding to a similar incident (i.e., a former employee who had taken a customer). While I don’t recall his exact words, they were along the lines of “I will pursue every legal avenue no matter what the cost to ensure that this person sees the gross error of their ways, and to ensure that anyone else considering a similar tactic understands the consequences.”

“Quite right,” I thought then. It still seems unethical to me on so many levels that an employee agrees to a non-compete, is introduced to a customer, leaves the company, and (in my mind) steals business from his former employer. 

With that thought in mind, I counseled my client to “lawyer up” and vigorously pursue that former employee. I was angry (for him), knew how much this loss was costing him personally, and was eager to see “justice” served. 

And in the moment, I felt what in my former church circles we called a “check in the spirit,” a clear sense that I was guiding him in ways counter to what God wanted. Without going into deep detail, I am now learning to follow the Jesus who is portrayed in the Gospels, the one who said “turn the other cheek” and “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” My son recently confronted me about my readiness to confront others and, whether I was right or wrong, to injure relationships in the process. Truth, and part of my current learning curve. 

Back to the call with my client. We addressed other topics, discussed our upcoming quarterly planning meeting, and prepared to close … at which point, I brought up our earlier conversation. Knowing my client to be a person of faith, I admitted that, while my advice sounded like wisdom, it was counter to what the Spirit was teaching me now. Whatever the rightness of pursuing legal redress, perhaps the real opportunity here was to forgive the one who had offended and, in some small way, contribute to her healing. My client replied that this is what he sensed as well, and that he could trust God to take care of his business needs. 

I don’t know if this advice is universal – that is, for all people in all times and situations. This is no commentary on larger questions of legal justice, which is far above my pay grade. It’s more a testament, perhaps, to my friend who is truly allowing his faith to inform his business practice. We should all attend to that.