| The better a man is, the more mistakes he will make, | | | | work. You use them at home to post the shopping list |
| for the more new things he will try. I would never | | | | on the fridge, to leave a telephone message where it |
| promote to a top-level job a man who was not | | | | will be seen, or to flag a page in a catalog. This |
| making mistakes ... otherwise he is sure to be | | | | product innovation was actually considered a mistake |
| mediocre. Peter Drucker, leadership expert | | | | since it was an adhesive that was not sticky enough |
| What do you do when you make a mistake? How do | | | | for the project then at hand. Now it has become an |
| you feel? | | | | office-supply staple produced in a myriad of sizes and |
| How do you react when others mess up? How do | | | | colors. |
| you make them feel? | | | | * One more well-known mistake was New Coke. New |
| Do you find a way to gain benefit from mistakes and | | | | Coke was the unofficial name of the sweeter drink |
| prevent them from taking you and/or your organization | | | | introduced in 1985 by The Coca-Cola Company to |
| off track? | | | | replace its flagship soda, Coca-Cola or Coke. Properly |
| As an executive coach, I find many business owners, | | | | speaking, it had no separate name of its own, but was |
| CEOs, and other leaders that continue to recycle | | | | simply the new version of Coke, until 1992 when it was |
| employees who failed to make perfect decisions and | | | | renamed Coke II. Public reaction to the change was |
| act properly every time. On the surface you might be | | | | devastating, and the new cola quickly entered the |
| thinking, how big was the mistake? Many of these | | | | pantheon of major marketing flops. However, the |
| executives also use the cliché, "We pay them | | | | subsequent reintroduction of Coke's original formula led |
| the big bucks NOT to make mistakes." When you | | | | to a significant gain in sales. |
| read my upcoming article, "Passing the Buck - Taking | | | | Does the way a person respond to a mistake define |
| Responsibility for Mistakes," you will see why blame is | | | | him/her as a leader? Leaders who regularly punish and |
| typically being placed on the wrong people. | | | | criticize people for mistakes, regardless of position, will |
| Worse yet, the leaders who don't tolerate errors | | | | actually reduce their personal power within an |
| typically hold people to standards higher than those | | | | organization. The leader will eventually lose the respect |
| that they themselves achieve and attainable by less | | | | of others, reduce motivation, and hold back the |
| than 1% of the population, if that much. These are the | | | | company. Moreover, by not utilizing mistakes as a |
| very same leaders who cannot understand why their | | | | learning tool, one is persisting in mediocrity, creating an |
| employees are not motivated, the same leaders who | | | | environment where people will "play it safe" and "do |
| typically offer better-than-average compensation to | | | | things the way we always have" in order to avoid |
| keep people, yet still find it difficult to retain or attract | | | | disfavor. Leaders might verbally tell people to "think out |
| top talent. | | | | of box" and/or reinvent their positions; however, |
| In a well-run organization, you should expect that the | | | | actions, body language, and tone can speak much |
| more "senior" the executive or leader is, the more | | | | louder than the words. |
| mistakes he is likely to have made. As Peter Drucker | | | | By attacking others for mistakes or mistakenly finding |
| says in the above quote, if they are not making any | | | | that it's "easier just to do it myself," a leader prevents |
| mistakes, they are mediocre at best and should never | | | | others from learning what they are capable of |
| reach the senior ranks. The higher the position, the | | | | becoming. Or, if a leader depends on someone else to |
| more responsibility, the greater the range of decisions | | | | prevent the possibility of failure, they will find that they |
| and issues, and the more likely that mistakes will occur. | | | | are actually preventing themselves from developing |
| It does not matter how many battles a leader has | | | | leadership. Further, many leaders make the mistake of |
| fought and won ... no one can possibly know or have | | | | trying to be involved in every decision so that mistakes |
| seen everything. The world, people, competition, and | | | | will not happen. All they accomplish is to make a bunch |
| issues are constantly evolving, and so must leaders. | | | | of people depend on them and stifle their organization. |
| Even the greats like Jack Welch provide volumes of | | | | They need to stop taking themselves so seriously, and |
| examples of when they have made poor decisions, | | | | let their people develop. |
| handled a person incorrectly, misread a situation, and | | | | Mistakes and errors are necessary steps in the |
| just did things that their bosses disapproved of. It is | | | | learning process and can be a powerful tool in |
| human nature and part of the game of business. | | | | motivating employees to help take an organization to |
| Imagine that Jack Welch's bosses ignored the great | | | | the next level. Reviewing errors should be a means to |
| things he did and only saw his mistakes. They would | | | | an end - not an end in itself. Once they have served |
| have stifled and eventually lost one of the greatest | | | | their purpose, mistakes should be forgotten. No one |
| leaders of the Fortune 500. | | | | enjoys making mistakes, but everyone makes them. |
| When problems occur, the challenge faced is not the | | | | Your leadership progress is determined by your |
| mistakes, but the attitude towards them. Past errors, | | | | attitude toward yourself and others. "Failure" is a state |
| failures, and negative experiences do not inhibit the | | | | of mind, but when leaders view errors as learning |
| learning process - they actually contribute to it. Some | | | | experiences, organizations bounce back even stronger. |
| of the best products in the world were the result of | | | | Apply these Five Steps when mistakes occur: |
| mistakes, and some businesses emerged from events | | | | 1. Get the Facts - Learn all you can about the mistake. |
| considered mistakes. Here are some examples: | | | | 2. Reflect - Understand what might be done differently |
| * In 1905, eleven-year-old Frank Epperson left his fruit | | | | in the future and determine how to turn this into an |
| flavored soda outside on the porch with a stir stick in it. | | | | opportunity for you and others to learn and to make |
| The drink froze to the stick and tasted good. He called | | | | the organization stronger. |
| his treat the Epsicle. Eighteen years later, in 1923, | | | | 3. Communicate - Positively communicate what has |
| Epperson applied for a patent for a "frozen ice on a | | | | been learned and what should happen in the future. |
| stick" called the Epsicle ice pop, which his children | | | | 4. Reassure - No one likes to make mistakes. |
| re-named the Popsicle. In 1925, Frank Epperson sold his | | | | Reassure those involved in the mistake that you are |
| famous Popsicle to the Joe Lowe Company of New | | | | on the same team and that you view mistakes as |
| York. Good Humor now owns the rights to the | | | | progress. |
| Popsicle. | | | | 5. Forget - Do not dwell on past mistakes. Move on |
| * Post It® Notes was a mistake that turned into big | | | | and think positively as to how you will bounce back |
| business. They are probably all over your computer at | | | | even stronger. |