Turning Mistakes into Job Success

Of course most of you are perfect and never make any mistakes - I know I don't.  So this blog is directed at the one or two of you that are not the shiny bastion of perfection.

So, you messed up, dropped the ball, committed a faux pas - whatever you want to call it, you screwed up and someone(s) is/are mad.  What do you do?  Here are five things you could and should do ASAP.

Show up and own up. Don't disappear - stand up and take ownership of your mistakes.  If you hide, your detractors can say whatever they want and you can't defend yourself.

Be open and don't get defensive. Tell the truth, be honest and forthright.  Whenever you beat yourself up, it takes away the ammo from your critics which leads to my other point - whatever happens, don't get defensive and don't blame others - this is your mea culpa be a man/woman and own your mistakes - folks will remember it.

Stay cool, calm and collected. Take a deep breath and count to ten or a hundred if need be.  Pauses indicate poise and intelligent thought.  Don't yell, in fact, the louder they talk the quieter you should be - this trick works with children most of the time as well.

Acknowledge your shortcomings. Making believe you have no weaknesses doesn't fool anyone - whether you are a line manager, the CEO or the president of the USA, you have weaknesses.  They are part of you and recognizing them is a first step to addressing them.  Know yourself and share what you know with others.

Smile often. Smiles are contagious - smile and the whole worlds smiles with you.  Sometimes it may be tough to smile in the face of adversity, but do it.  Smiles put people at ease and will make you and everyone around you calm and moving towards happy.

Messing up is part of growing and maturing - no matter how far along your career is, you can always grow and mature.  But what you learn from your mistakes could be invaluable.

Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes.

Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC)