{"id":81749,"date":"2024-10-18T14:49:35","date_gmt":"2024-10-18T20:49:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/?p=81749"},"modified":"2024-10-18T14:53:24","modified_gmt":"2024-10-18T20:53:24","slug":"a-5-step-process-for-leaders-to-handle-their-mistakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/a-5-step-process-for-leaders-to-handle-their-mistakes\/","title":{"rendered":"A 5 Step Process For Leaders To Handle Their Mistakes"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-1 fusion-flex-container nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"--awb-border-radius-top-left:0px;--awb-border-radius-top-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-left:0px;--awb-flex-wrap:wrap;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row fusion-flex-align-items-flex-start fusion-flex-content-wrap\" style=\"max-width:1248px;margin-left: calc(-4% \/ 2 );margin-right: calc(-4% \/ 2 );\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-0 fusion_builder_column_1_1 1_1 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:100%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:1.92%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:0px;--awb-spacing-left-large:1.92%;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-spacing-right-medium:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:1.92%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-1\"><p><strong>By <a href=\"https:\/\/mesoamericaregion.us4.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=03e55b045b4b2d81fc3a5a85b&amp;id=08807daafe&amp;e=1e0613ef18\">Dan Reiland<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When you are out in front and taking new territory, missteps are part of the journey. If you aren\u2019t making mistakes, you probably aren\u2019t truly leading. All leaders make mistakes, the key is to not make the same one twice. If a leader continues to repeat the mistake, it\u2019s an indication they are not learning.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve sure made my fair share of mistakes and I\u2019m not free from them now. Hopefully, not as frequent these days, and the context is also important. That is, we are doing more things right than wrong. But again, if you are leading in uncharted waters, you will make mistakes.<\/p>\n<p>Leaders who try to cover up, justify or minimize their mistakes often struggle with deeper issues. Breaking free from that captivity is one of the healthiest things a leader can do.<\/p>\n<p>Warning signs that may hinder you from owning your mistakes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Pride<\/em>\u00a0that makes us want to look good and always be right no matter what the cost. Defensiveness and arrogance can result from this pride which blocks the ability to grow and learn.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Insecurity<\/em>\u00a0that causes us to attempt being someone other than our real self, someone with less flaws and better liked. Insecurity causes us to pretend rather than enjoying being the person God made us to be.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Taking ourselves too seriously\u00a0<\/em>can actually cause more mistakes because it hurts our relationships and we lose the freedom of enjoying our work.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Dishonesty<\/em>\u00a0is in play by attempting to hide, cover up or blame someone else for your mistake. Telling the truth is essential to our character and leading well.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Your work environment makes a difference in your ability to own your mistakes. A healthy, growth-oriented culture that understands mistakes are part of learning and maturing, is a gift to your growth as a leader.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A 5-step Process to Handle Your Mistakes in a Healthy Way:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>1) Own it completely.<\/strong><br \/>\nOn more than one occasion relating to a staffing issue that was several layers away from me, and I was not personally involved, I\u2019ve said to our senior pastor, \u201cI\u2019m responsible for this situation and I\u2019m on it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If something is directly your fault, it\u2019s all the more important to own it fully. Sometimes an apology is due, then move on. Don\u2019t try to dodge it, hide it, or back the truck up over someone else. Just own it and move forward.<\/p>\n<p>There is great freedom in owning your mistakes. Your courage and maturity in this process allows you to grow and become a better leader.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2) Disclose it quickly.<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen you make a mistake, speak up right away. This is courageous and clears the air. It enables everyone to move toward solutions and make progress rather than assign blame.<\/p>\n<p>If something goes wrong, you should be the first one to say, \u201cHey, I made a mistake.\u201d Not \u201cMy bad.\u201d Don\u2019t minimize it. It\u2019s better to say, \u201cThat\u2019s my mistake.\u201d Our words as leaders make a difference.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not necessary to make every mistake a big deal. In fact, in most cases a poised and matter of fact statement is all that is needed. Your boss, or your team will love you for it, and your candid and mature disclosure increases trust. They will have more respect for you because you saw it, owned it, and spoke up.<\/p>\n<p>And it\u2019s never a good idea to have your boss to find out from someone other than you.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3) Solve it correctly.<\/strong><br \/>\nSolutions help turn the corner from a problem to progress. A good solution changes the focus from the negative tone of a \u201cmistake in the air,\u201d to one of forward motion and progress.<\/p>\n<p>Dive in deep to fix the mistake. Cosmetic work that is just enough to cover the surface doesn\u2019t really fix the problem. Solutions that last require more than veneer touch up.<\/p>\n<p>Understanding what went wrong and the difference between, for example, a system failure or human error is essential.<\/p>\n<p>Follow up is required, repeatedly, until it\u2019s fully rectified. This might be accomplished in a few days, or it could take weeks or months. It doesn\u2019t matter, solve it correctly whatever it takes.<\/p>\n<p><strong>4) Learn from it thoroughly.<\/strong><br \/>\nIf you are like me or most leaders, we move pretty fast.\u00a0There\u2019s a lot to do, so I have a tendency to move on a little too quickly. How about you?<\/p>\n<p>Once a problem is solved, I\u2019m on to the next thing. But that doesn\u2019t mean I\u2019ve actually learned something.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s important for us as leaders to take some time to pause and carefully think through what caused us to make the mistake so we can genuinely learn from it. For example,\u00a0was it a\u00a0lack of experience? Was it the wrong decision, and if so why? Was insufficient time invested to think through the issues? Was distraction in play? Was it more circumstantial? This process is relevant and helpful to all of us.<\/p>\n<p>From there, it\u2019s wise to take a few minutes to acknowledge how you would do it better next time.<\/p>\n<p><strong>5) Get over it appropriately.<\/strong><br \/>\nDon\u2019t beat yourself up. If you have completed the first four steps, shake it off.<\/p>\n<p>Match your level of response to the size of the mistake.<\/p>\n<p>For example, let\u2019s say you blew an appointment, you just missed one and you never do that. The whole process should take you about five minutes. Own the mistake, lead with an apology, set a new appointment, figure out what broke down in your system, and get over it.<\/p>\n<p>Or, for example, you made a $200,000.00 budgeting error, and now you\u2019re in the red for that much money. That\u2019s a mistake of a much different magnitude. It\u2019s is going to be complex before you even get started. It will take time to understand what actually happened. It may take months to solve the problem, etc.<\/p>\n<p>But it still starts in the same place. Own it fully and disclose it completely, then dig in to the solution and learning.<br \/>\nThere it is.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Own it completely.<\/li>\n<li>Disclose it quickly.<\/li>\n<li>Solve it correctly.<\/li>\n<li>Learn from it thoroughly.<\/li>\n<li>Get over it appropriately.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Pass this on to your staff and friends who lead!<\/p>\n<p>Copyright \u00a9 2024 Dan Reiland<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":81746,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3380,4661,276,266],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-leadership-articles","category-resources-ndi","category-sunday-school-and-discipleship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81749"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81749\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}