Yep, I admit it. I make mistakes. Nobody likes to make mistakes, much less bring them out into the light for all to see and scrutinize but sometimes, it just has to be done.
Recently I made a mistake. I missed a couple of meetings where some pertinent information was shared. Since I was not at the meetings – and did not follow up to find out what I missed – I was not able to share information that would directly affect some colleagues. I’ll spare you all the details but I will share how I handled the situation once I found out I messed up.
First, I owned up to the mistake.
Initially my brain went to, “Whose fault was it that I didn’t know?” After a bit of grumbling to myself, figuring out if anyone else was to blame, the correct answer was apparent: My Fault.
Why didn’t I get the info? Answer: I failed to follow up with the person who conducted the meeting to find out what I missed.
It was really that simple: I missed the meetings and failed to follow up. I felt absolutely terrible! I pride myself in providing good information and I didn’t do that in this case.
Now what? Well, I had to follow up and apologize to the individuals who needed the info. I also had to apologize to the people who had to correct the misinformation caused by my mistake. Ouch!
I made no excuses in my apology and took ownership. I sincerely apologized. I still feel terrible.
When I mess up, I try to take the next step and figure out how to correct it from happening again.
In this case, it went a bit deeper. I had committed to something that I wasn’t fully engaged in, nor had I embraced the full responsibility of the commitment. Because I wasn’t committed, I didn’t give it my best, i.e. missing meetings, not following up, etc. Before this incident, I did realize that I wasn’t giving it my all and had resigned the role and this just confirmed that I had made the right decision. The individuals now in the role are far more committed and as such, more capable of fulfilling the duties and responsibilities.
What did I learn? It wasn’t so much of what I learned but what I was reminded of: Don’t commit unless you are willing to give it your best. Do what is expected. Follow up. Follow through. And when you mess up – own it and apologize sincerely. It is a humbling process but always the right thing to do. I also believe people understand we are all human and we do make mistakes. Now on to building back trust 🙂
How do you handle things when you mess up?