Written by Mike McMullin
Confidence is priceless in life and in business. One of the greatest benefits to having confidence is being able to apologize when you are wrong and when you have made a mistake. People who do this build loyalty and trust with those around them – especially with the ones they’ve wronged. Those who can’t apologize accomplish the exact opposite.
Everyone makes mistakes. This is one of the defining characteristics of being human. Just think of the humorous excuses we’ve heard when we were kids like, “My dog ate my homework.” Unfortunately, some people still operate like they are in grade school when it comes to taking responsibility for dropping the ball.
I remember learning this lesson at a very young age. As there were no good jobs to be found in my field when I graduated from college, I took a job with a company that rented tropical plants to restaurants and offices. My job was to water and care for the plants in each establishment weekly.
It was an interesting job and I learned a lot about plants. I also learned that the plants didn’t always need water every seven days, as they could go longer without a drink. So, armed with this knowledge, I decided I didn’t want to make a long drive to a restaurant that was considerably outside of my main route and I skipped it. My thought was that the plants would be fine and that I’d catch them the next day. Little did I know that the heating system in the restaurant had malfunctioned a few days back and basically roasted the plants.
My boss, who had been notified by the restaurant manager that the plants were all dead, called me and asked how the plants looked when I was there. Since I didn’t want him to know that I skipped this stop on my route, I lied and said all was well. Big mistake. Skipping the stop on the appointed day paled in comparison, however, to the mistake of lying to my boss. Even after heartfelt apologies, it took a long time to mend our relationship and regain his trust. The lesson I learned took root and honesty became my policy 100% of the time.
Mistakes happen. Have the confidence to apologize when you mess up. I’ve worked with people who refuse to apologize when they’ve dropped the ball. They’re exhausting and untrustworthy. They don’t last.
