Last week I made a mistake. Not a big one, but one I’m not proud of and I regret the fall out to others and the harm it may have caused to my reputation.I was sloppy as a result of being distracted and rushed.
I had a couple of choices once I realised what I had done. One was to pretend nothing happened and hope that no one noticed. I might have chosen this in the past.
Another was to own what I did, apologise and vow to be more careful in the future. I chose this path and am glad I did. Importantly, I did this immediately I realised the mistake. I didn’t wait to see if anyone noticed. I just took responsibility for it straight away.
When you own a mistake you do several things
- you do the right thing – even though this might be the hard thing
- you show others that you care – even though it’s painful
- you reveal that you are vulnerable – people know that you are not perfect and showing that you are human increases the likelihood they will engage with you
- you learn – I am going to be more present and more organised in future.
Something unexpected happened soon after I acted to take responsibility for the mistake. I received a lot of communication, mostly positive, about acting honestly and quickly. In some ways I turned a negative into a positive.Being authentic is paramount to being an effective leader. Even when you stuff up you can grow your leadership capability.