Oops, My Bad...

There seems to be a lot of misconceptions that in order to be a leader, one has to be perfect. Now, it is very possible that as you read this, you’re thinking to yourself, “Well, that’s not true… we all know that mistakes happen…” (or something along these lines.) And, you’d be correct. We do know that - we say it aloud all the time; I see posts about it on LinkedIn every day. But, the reality is that most companies do not give their leaders opportunity to make mistakes and grow. Many organizations have created a culture of fear, leading their employees to an employment filled with anxiety at the thought of making a mistake.

In today’s hyper-sensitive society, mistakes are bound to occur. I can honestly look back on my 20+ years leading all types of teams and say that I probably made at least one mistake every single day. Some were large enough to keep me up at night as I ran through what I did wrong in my head and worked through ways to fix it, or at least never let it happen again. While others weren’t so obvious - perhaps I didn’t say hello to one of my employees as I arrived for the day, or I laughed at a joke that offended someone.

Making mistakes is human and it should be expected. Not only expected, but embraced. It is from our mistakes that we learn to lead better, see the bigger picture, and learn empathy.

So, how can you be sure that you are giving your leaders and employees enough room to make mistakes? (I feel the need to emphasize that I don’t mean high-stake mistakes, such as delivering the wrong medicine to a patient or doing something illegal…) If you’re not allowing mistakes, why?

And, beyond your employees and leaders, how often do you allow yourself to make a mistake? When it happens, do you process the situation and move forward? Or do you beat yourself up over it internally?

At Launch Pikes Peak, we work with companies, leaders, and employees to help them build stronger teams, with clear-cut expectations, so that when a mistake happens it is addressed, a solution is discussed and action is taken, and then everybody moves on. There is no public flogging or behind-the-scenes passive aggressive maneuver. Just some humans, working together as a team and allowing each other to be human, to build a better future for themselves and their company.