In principle, we all make mistakes. It is part of being human. Mistakes are often painful in the short term but useful in the long term. Mistakes teach us how to do things better, how to make better decisions.
It’s often unfair to judge a person just because they made a mistake. The better basis for judgment is how one handles one’s mistake.
We are most useful to our groups when we acknowledge our mistakes, try to make things right, and maintain self worth.
Practical Tip: Turn mistakes into opportunities to demonstrate your good character. Admit your mistake, apologize, try to fix it, take stock of lessons learned, and move on.
Do not let mistakes bring you down but rather make you strong. Do not judge against someone who makes an honest mistake and handles it with integrity.
Graduate from small mistakes to higher stakes.
– Craig Freshley
Click here for one-page PDF of this Tip, a great way to print or share.
Communication is the key to recovering from mistakes. The error I made was not keeping my boss informed of the steps I was taking to remedy my mistake. I did exactly what he suggested I do, but I didn’t keep him informed, so he ended up being angry at me. So communication is so important.
Thanks Craig – I have found in my experiences that many lack the knowledge or skills in how to ‘right the wrong’ -Agreed that first and foremost we must acknowledge we made a mistake – often compassion & understanding will follow – Then the shift to problem solving/correction – Much more satisfying to focus on a solution than a mistake – We will be addressing this issue in orientation this June –
I love the concept of inheriting strength vs shame/denial/depression when our judgment becomes veiled and we identify our outcomes as mistakes-
I have also learned that we are the very best we can be at every given moment – even in times of mistaken judgements- Funny that mistakes are the gift -It appears that human error is how most of us grow! Very humbling but certainly a growth spurt for me –
Mis -Takes -like cinematography – “Roll’em Take 10!”