In this activity, students explore the role of forgiveness in leadership by analysing a realistic case from multiple stakeholder perspectives. Through role-based analysis and structured debate, they examine how forgiveness relates to justice, accountability, and trust. This helps students develop critical thinking, perspective-taking, and a deeper understanding of how ethical considerations shape leadership decisions in complex real-world situations.
- Activity goal
- Practice skills | Reflect
- When
- In class
- Where
- Offline
- Duration
- < 60 minutes | > 60 minutes
- Group size
- Small | Medium
Step-by-step plan
Step 1: Introduction & positioning
Explain that forgiveness in leadership is often controversial: it can support healing, but may also undermine justice or accountability.
Introduce a realistic case (e.g. public apology, restorative justice case, post-conflict reconciliation). Provide background context and explain why this case matters for leadership and society.
Present a clear statement to guide the discussion: “Forgiveness by leaders contributes to justice and societal healing.”
Ask students to briefly position themselves (e.g. agree/disagree).
Step 2: Role-based case analysis
Divide students into small groups and assign each group a specific role:
- victim / affected group
- leader / decision-maker
- public / society
- journalist / critic
Instruct students to analyse the case from their assigned perspective. Ask them to prepare two arguments in favour of forgiveness, two arguments against forgiveness and one key concern (e.g. justice, trust, legitimacy). Ask groups to select a spokesperson and briefly rehearse their arguments.
Step 3: Structured debate (fishbowl or panel)
Organise a structured discussion, for example a fishbowl or panel format. Select one representative per role.
Activate the other students by letting them observe and take notes:
- Which arguments are most convincing?
- Where do tensions arise?
Step 4: Debriefing and individual reflection
Debrief the debate with students. Optionally, ask students to re-position themselves on the initial statement and briefly discuss shifts in perspective. Then ask them to write a short reflection:
- How can forgiveness be a leadership strength?
- What would you have done in this case, and why?
- What challenges arise when applying forgiveness in practice?
You can also include:
- How does your ability to forgive affect your well-being and relationships?
- In what situations do you find forgiveness most challenging, and why?
Tip 1
- Use a realistic case with clear tension, no obvious “right answer”, multiple stakeholders and conflicting interests.
Tip 2
- Provide short role descriptions for students (e.g. interests, concerns, priorities) to make the roles more concrete.
Tip 3
- After the first round, let students switch roles and argue from a different perspective to broaden their view.
