Six Tips for Fessing Up to Your Mistakes

This week’s Tuesday Reading is “Six Tips for Fessing Up to Your Mistakes” by Deborah Brown-Volkman, president of Surpass Your Dreams, a career, life, and mentor coaching company.

If you haven’t made a mistake you can pass this week’s reading.  But, somehow, I think you may find the column interesting.  We all mistakes and it is supremely important that we take responsibility for the mistakes we make.  Deborah suggests that fessing up involves six steps:

1.  Preparation – Why did you make the mistake?  What went wrong and why?  What is your game plan for fixing the mistake?

2.  Explain what happened to your manager.  Be professional;  take constructive criticism.  This is not a place where you put blame on anyone.  Your conversation will demonstrate your character.

3.  What did you learn from your mistake?

4.  Explain why you are better because of what happened.  What are you going to do with what you learned from the mistake?

5.  Be gracious.  Thank your manager for taking the time for the conversation with you.  This is a way of closing the issue.

6.  Move on.  Once the issue has been discussed and resolved, it is time to put it behind you.

We all mistakes and need a process for resolution and moving on.  This one strikes me as a good one to put into practice.

.  .  .  .  .  .     jim