A few weekend’s ago I had regular set of conference calls with many of my leadership teams throughout several different organizations that I’m apart of. I try to sometimes do a marathon schedule of calls instead of having a bunch of calls spread out through the week. I look forward to these regular calls because it really gives us an opportunity to connect with one another. Of the dozens of leaders on these calls, very few are in the same state. We are literally from one coast to the next.
One particular call stands out to me. I had an opportunity to do something that I really didn’t HAVE to do. I had come to believe that I made a mistake during our International Conference this past July that I needed to apologize for. Not necessarily for doing the wrong thing, but not at least doing the MOST wisest thing.
I’ve learned (and still learning) that many times leadership is not always about doing what’s right, but doing what’s wise.
Nonetheless, I wanted to challenge you. If you’re a leader of any group of any size, never be afraid to be clear and honest about a leadership mistake and then use it to create conversation about the reality of your organization, the environment of the organization, and the future direction of it. Your ability to apologize will greatly influence your momentum moving forward.
I don’t know the thoughts of all of my leaders from that weekend’s call, but I do know this. They have a leader that’s not afraid to apologize for missing it sometimes.
I enjoyed reading Perry Noble’s post on why leaders are afraid to apologize (Here). Enjoy!