Admitting Mistakes - Part Two

"It is the highest form of self respect to admit our errors and mistakes and make amends for them.  To make a mistake is only an error in judgment, but to adhere to it when it is discovered shows infirmity of character."...Dale E. Turner

What a picture...sure glad that's not me!  But I know the feeling.  She's just discovered a critical error that she is responsible for.  The question is, what will she choose to do next?

Hopefully none of you are thinking she should close her office door and start scheming, shredding, rehearsing excuses or calculating who to best blame it on!  And no it's not the time to lie and say you have to go attend to your sick grandmother for a week or two and leave someone else to clean up the mess.  If you do that, you may be cleaning out your office when you get back! 

Even though we know we should do the responsible thing, admitting mistakes can be very difficult, whether our career is young or well established.  We never want others to view us as incapable or unreliable, so we hope to hide our imperfections for as long as possible.  Depending on the nature of the errors and how they affect others could cause such fear of the consequences that one may panic, make matters worse and ultimately suffer even greater repercussions.

If you find yourself in this situation, as tough as it is, you should without hesitation go to your boss (the person you normally report to) and admit what has happened.  This will immediately shift your energy from worrying about an event that you cannot change (living in the past) to focusing on making amends (living in the present).  Doing this will define your work ethic as both trustworthy and responsible.  This will lead to a greater feeling of security and confidence in yourself and can only enhance your career in all future endeavours. 

Here are a few pointers about how to "fess up" and deal with your mistakes: taken from lifehack.org

• see things from someone else's perspective:  if you made a promise and failed to keep it, put yourself in the other party's shoes and see how things look from there.  How would you feel?  What would your response be if you were them, and what action would satisfy you?
• be sympathetic:  Realize that your mistakes may affect many more people than just you, and recognize the pain you've caused.  A little bit of sympathy can be the opening you need to set things right.
• Take responsibility:  Don't try to weasel out of it, and don't try to look around wildly for someone else to blame.  Even if your failure came about because someone let you down, you're ultimately responsible for the projects under your authority.
• Accept the consequences:  It's hard I know, but sometimes you have to bite the bullet and take your lumps.  Few actions come without any consequences at all; be prepared to embrace whatever befalls you as a result of the mistakes you've made.
• Have a plan:  Taking responsibility means being prepared to clean up the mess, which means you need a plan.  You should have a clear idea of what went wrong and how you can fix it - and how you can avoid it in the future.
• Be sincere.  Don't pretend to feel sympathy or act phony so that the other person can see how deeply you care.  Don't play the martyr.  Show honest emotion - the first step to rebuilding the trust lost.
• Apologize.  No, really.  A lot of people go to great lengths to make up for their mistakes - or to hide them - when a simple "I'm sorry" would do the job and cause a lot fewer hard feelings.

Oftentimes when you do confess, you will find you are not in as much trouble as you imagined (whew!), mistakes happen and your boss will at least be grateful that you kept him/her apprised.  However these tips will not prevent the worst from happening, it is always possible that you will still lose your job or your client, but at least you will have done so with dignity instead of disgrace, allowing you to walk away with your head held high, and your reputation intact.

In part one, I featured (to the delight of my husband) Jean Luc Picard as the best leader on television.  Today I will feature the first female captain of the Star Trek Universe, Captain of the USS Voyager, Kathryn Janeway:

And I love the theme music for this show much better than Star Trek TNG, it's a beautiful instrumental piece composed by Jerry Goldsmith:

Have a wonderful work week everybody,

Cheers,

Linda

click here to read: Admitting Mistakes - Part One

Admitting Mistakes - Part One

"The successful man will profit from his mistakes and try again in a different way."...Dale Carnegie

We are all human beings, imperfect and prone to making mistakes.  Some days, like yesterday, I make them even before I've taken my first sip of coffee!  I let our dog out into the backyard as I always do early morning, but this time the gate was left open all night and I didn't check first.  Then I proceeded to make a pot of coffee, unload the dryer, pour my coffee and finally sit down at my computer.  Oh yeah, just before that I closed the kitchen door, not realizing our little Penny had not come back inside!  Luckily, I soon realized something was missing that morning, like a little tongue licking my toes while I work, and after frantically waking up the household to help me go look for her, she was found safely a few houses up the street a few minutes later.

My mistake was at the time very painful to admit to my family.  Mistakes that affect other people are often the most difficult to admit to and take responsibility for.  In the middle of a crisis, whatever it is, the first response could be to finger point, blame others or make excuses.  I could have easily blamed this on whomever left the gate open, or made an excuse for myself like it was dark outside or I was still sleepy.  However, when we accept responsibility, we are accepting the blame for our actions and also accepting the responsibility for making changes and improvements in our lives.  This applies to both our personal and professional lives.  The manner in which we handle our errors makes all the difference.

Why is it so difficult to accept responsibility for our actions and admit our mistakes?  Is it because we care so much for others to have a high opinion of us, that we feel we'll lose our sense of value and importance if someone discovered we're not perfect?  This will only lead to insecurity and being unable to admit mistakes out of fear of being perceived as weak and losing the respect of others.

However taking responsibility is definitely not a sign of weakness, rather it earns you respect.  Who would you have greater respect for, a person who takes responsibility for her actions, owns up to it and promises to do better in the future, or someone who continually denies involvement in situations when it's obvious they may be responsible?  It is a sign of personal growth and maturity to own up to mistakes and accept responsibility for them.  It is an important quality in leadership.  A good leader will admit mistake and move on.  A great leader will admit mistake, learn from it and never make it again.

In the work environment, perhaps it is the fear of the consequences that hold people back from admitting their errors and taking responsibility.  I think this holds true no matter the occupation, from bank clerk to doctor.  It may be a tough pill to swallow in the immediate, but better to do it and begin making amends than the alternative, which will only put your future career growth and reputation at risk.  Having courage is also a quality of strong leadership.

Do you find you have a difficult time admitting mistakes and taking responsibility?  Don't worry you're not alone and there is a lot you can do to change.  In part two on my next blog, we will continue the discussion and learn the best ways to overcome this and you will soon feel yourself more vibrant and confident than ever before.

I will leave you with a short clip of whom I consider to be the epitome of a great leader on television, Captain Jean Luc Picard of Star Trek, The Next Generation.  He believed "it is both our mistakes and triumphs that make us who we are today".



Cheers,

Linda

click here to read Admitting Mistakes - Part Two