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Respected leaders own their mistakes
We all make mistakes. That is a given. We have also realize that we can learn from our mistakes. Even though learning is positive, making mistakes always hurts a least a little. We want to make sure a mistake doesn’t hurt us twice. We need to admit it and own it as quickly as possible. Here is an example;
This year the Chicago Cubs won their first World Series since 1908. If you happen to be a Cub fan, you were in there with the excitement all the way. And you also know that winning the World Series was not a breeze for the Cubs. Things went right down to the wire.
It was game seven of the series – do or die. Kyle Hendricks was the pitcher, and was doing well. It was the 5th inning, and he walked a batter. One of his pitches was a strike, but it wasn’t called as a strike. The batter should have been out. Cub’s manager Joe Maddon pulled Kyle and replaced him with his closer. The closer was Arnoldis Chapman. He had pitched quite a few innings the game before, and he was not at his best. He did poorly, and almost gave the game away.
Every Cub fan I know of was furious that Joe Maddon had pulled Kyle Hendricks. In our mind, Joe Maddon made a bad decision in taking out Hendricks. After the game, when asked about the decision, he defended it. Nobody I know bought it. A few days later a Cub fan asked me what I thought of Joe’s decision. I said, “No manager is right all the time. I think Joe made a mistake in taking out Kyle. What bothers me is that he didn’t admit it. I lost some respect for him when he wouldn’t admit it.” My friend said, “That is exactly what I thought”. Later, I found out we weren’t the only ones.
Like the rest of us mortal souls, Joe is going to make mistakes. He cost himself some respect by not remembering to say these important phrases:
- I made a mistake.
- I was wrong
- I’ve changed mind
How many businesses and civilizations would be saved if we had the courage to say these phrases when appropriate?