Everyone makes mistakes. You submit a report with an outdated budget. You make a decision despite not having the authority to do so. You forget a meeting and end up standing someone up. Life happens. The reason for your mistake may be that you spaced out, or a personal emergency came up, or you had to take a best guess without a lot of information. Regardless of the legitimacy of your reason, how you handle yourself when you realize you made a mistake speaks volumes to your leadership.
Apologize.
It’s a simple technique learned in preschool. However, while everyone knows how do it, forcing yourself to say, “I’m sorry,” and really mean it when you mess up, is difficult and therefore uncommon. You will get caught with the outdated budget in your report. Your over-authorized decision will come back to haunt you. And let’s hope the person you stood up wasn’t your boss. Just apologize.
Skipping an apology signals your inability to swallow your pride and own your mistake—and it’s rude. More importantly, when you don’t apologize, your judgement will be questioned. People will wonder, does she even understand that she messed up? Does she recognize the consequences of her mistake? When you enter damage control mode, your goal is to have others be so impressed by how you clean up your mess that they barely remember the mess you made in the first place. Leaving out an apology only makes them question your abilities further.
Now, there are many people (ahem some women) who apologize too much. This post is not meant to encourage more of the everyday apologizing that we do when someone else bumps into us. This post is about the real mess ups. Even as an over-apologizer, I find it difficult to vocalize an, “I’m sorry,” when I’m caught submitting a report with an outdated budget. It is easier to talk about excuses or how other people facilitated my mistake. Those excuses can be discussed, but I still need to apologize. When you are caught messing up, you are presented with an opportunity to wow someone by demonstrating your humility. Skipping the apology will further someone’s disappointment in you. Owning your mistake by leaving your ego at the door and apologizing will have lasting effects on your reputation as a humble leader.
Tell us about a time that was hard for you to apologize in the comments below.