Making mistakes - don’t be afraid to admit you’re wrong!

Have you ever felt that knot in your stomach when you’re under pressure to make a decision, with lots going on around you and people looking to you to do the ‘right’ thing? Most of the time you make the right choices, but what happens when it goes wrong? How do you cope with egg on your face?!

In recent posts I’ve also talked about the culture within an organization, and how it has an effect on everything that organization does. I’ve discussed engagement, commitment and even e-mail.

What I haven’t really focussed on is the people behind management; who are these wonderfully talented individuals and what makes them special I hear you ask? If you’re reading this, the chances are that you are involved in leading and managing people in one form or another. The topic of leadership and management is absolutely fascinating (if it throws your switch of course!). It’s dynamic, exciting, challenging and constant – if you’re a business that employs people managing is something that you’ll do every day without even giving it a second thought.

Making decisions can be really tough, especially when your workforce might view them as unpopular. As a manager, you’ll be focussed on two areas; the moment and the bigger picture. It can be one hell of a multi-task – living in the moment you’re making those key day-to-day operational decisions that have an influence on customers, staff and your reputation. The bigger picture involves the future of your business over the longer term; your direction or strategy. Making those big decisions that affect the future of your business and all that encompasses it.

What do you do when things go wrong?

But what do you do when it goes wrong? How do you feel when one of those tough decisions you’ve made doesn’t work, having some sort of negative impact, financially or other?

Don’t worry; you’re not alone. We’ve all done it. There are a couple of options; you could bury your head in the sand and pretend it didn’t happen, or face up to it, admit you’re wrong and learn from your mistake.

I recommend the latter. We’re not machines; the human factor means that mistakes can and will happen. Admitting mistakes shows you’re human; people will empathise and understand more than you think. Work out why your choice was wrong, even list the steps involved, and learn. Digest, then move on. You’ll feel better for it.

Admitting you have made a mistake demonstrates to your team, your peers and your boss that you have the ability to reflect on your actions, that you have the moral courage to step into the breach and hold your hands up.  For me this says a lot about a person's character; acting with integrity and having the guts to actually admit a mistake and take action are essential for any manager who wants to achieve success.

Moving on, you must take the time to reflect on why things went wrong.  This concept links in to becoming a learning organization; responsibility for implementing that whole concept lies with the management team - they must be willing to learn and communicate that to the team.  Writing a learning account is often a good way of taking action to right a mistake; involve others, ask for opinions and you're acting to engage others too!  Don't forget to actually take action - it's no good writing something down and then doing nothing about it!

How do you make those tough decisions?

There will come a time when you’re faced with making a tough decision that impacts you, your business, your employees or your family. This is the moment where deciding the wrong course could have serious impact, and of course the right one reaping rewards for you. You may even have been forced into making tough decisions by changes in legislation, increases in production costs or a need to expand.

Thinking about it keeps you awake at night and absorbs your thoughts during the day. These decisions are necessary though; you want your business to survive and grow, develop and succeed.

You can help yourself by thinking through these 5 short steps before hitting go:

• Don’t be overly harsh; you’re not Dr Evil!
• Stop asking yourself “what if?” – as long as you’ve used a rational and fair decision process you can sleep at night.
• Consider a number of courses of action; don’t throw all of your eggs into one basket
• Listen to the opinion of others; you’re not the monopoly on knowledge
• Communicate what you’re trying to achieve; engage your team, explain and inform

Management is an art form; you’re not going to get it right all of the time. There are so many moving parts to consider. Be true to yourself and your workforce. Act with integrity and communicate, but most of all, if you get it wrong, learn from it!