As a boss and parent, I always make it clear that mistakes happen.  When mistakes happen, if we all know about it we have time to solve the issue.  Nothing good comes out of hiding mistakes. 

One of the biggest projection mistakes I made in business was when I was running a nonprofit.  The team knew to put me in the loop regarding issues or problems so we could proactively figure out a solution.  The biggest part of my job was solving problems.  

This particular day a manager came into my office and sat down.  After the manager gathered composure I was handed a sheet of paper with some figures written down.  The manager did not look as relaxed as normal. 

The manager proceeded to tell me that the budget projection for the month was $25,000 off due to an error.  The manager’s projection showed a $25K profit that was not going to happen.  The budget projection was already distributed to the board, which meant that the board was going to be happy arriving at the meeting and very surprised once they heard my review. 

I sat for a moment after getting that news, not wanting to react too quickly.  I then said, “Thank you, for telling me.”  I am sure the manager spent time debating how and when to tell me the news.  I am fairly sure a “thank you” was not expected.  I thanked the manager because I had time before the board meeting to plan, think, solve, or just plain figure out how to admit my $25K mistake!

If the manager had not told me about the error before the monthly board meeting, the board would have started to make plans for money we were not going to have in the future. 

If I had reacted negatively, I would have been going against my own rule, discussing problems immediately when uncovered so we could proactively solve them.  My employees had my word that I would not do anything negative if they told the truth.  To the best of my ability, it would not cost them their job unless they went against company policy.  I found this to be very helpful and it cultivated an environment where employees were not afraid to think outside the box and were not afraid to admit when something went wrong.

As a parent, I find myself apologizing to my children for my mistakes often.  Sometimes because I reacted too quickly, didn’t listen to the whole story, or was simply wrong.  I believe apologizing to our children (or anyone) is important.  It does not show weakness, it shows that we make mistakes and it provides an example of what to do when mistakes happen.  If I expect my children to apologize when they have done something wrong, I certainly should do the same.  The second part of apologizing for mistakes is making a conscious effort to not make the same mistake often.  Better yet, to not make the same mistake again.  However, it is very difficult to change our behavior and sometimes we do repeat mistakes. 

I pray for God’s help in catching my mistakes before they happen or in time for me to change my reaction.  I also pray for forgiveness!  I have learned as a single parent that counting to 10 before reacting and leaving the room for a moment before responding are two very helpful ways to prevent some of my mistakes!

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