Admitting mistakes is one of the difficult things anyone has to do, whether in their personal relationships or at the workplace. Some do not want to look stupid; others simply do not like their reputation tarnished. But this must not always be the case, because admitting where you are wrong can make you right in a lot of ways. April Shprintz explains why you should not escape your failures and how to turn them into opportunities for personal growth.
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How Owning When You’re Wrong Makes You Right
With a lot of my clients, we spend time talking about whether or not they feel safe to admit that they’re wrong. I see this a lot in corporate, I see it with folks in the military, I see it with both people who are junior in their career or people who have worked in, say, investment banking or even private equity, where having a mistake is such a huge deal. There’s such a backlash. They don’t want to look stupid. Some of them are afraid of losing their job, getting yelled at, or even something that seems much more simple, like not being liked or approved. Here’s where being wrong is great. Here’s where admitting that you’re wrong can make you right in a lot of ways.
Learn Something New
First one, this is a chance to learn something new. This can actually be fun. As terrifying as it may seem to say, “I got that wrong,” or, “I don’t know about this,” or, “I’m sorry, that was my mistake,” pay attention to people who do that regularly because they’re probably the leaders and the successful people that you really admire. You just haven’t noticed before that they are so quick to say they’re wrong. They have that mindset of wanting to grow and learn something new, to be curious, and to not worry that someone’s going to say, “You were wrong that time. You remember last Tuesday at 9:00 AM?” No one is paying attention to how often you’re wrong.
Be A Role Model
Most people are worried about whether or not they are unless you advance to the people who don’t mind being wrong because they know that can take you to a new level. The second reason that owning that you’re wrong can make you right is that it models to your team, your kids, your partner, or whomever that it’s totally okay to be wrong.
Here’s why that’s such a big thing. Whether you’re leading a team and want innovation and new ideas and people to improve upon processes, or you’re raising little humans and wanting them to be good people, you want them to know that mistakes are okay. Taking calculated risks is totally allowed to move things forward.
Taking calculated risks is totally allowed to move things forward. Share on XNot only will it make your team and your workplace better, and you’ll do better quality work, but it will also benefit your kids. There is no coincidence that Sarah Blakely, who was one of the youngest self-made billionaires, was asked every single day by her father at dinner, “What did you fail at today?” People who are willing to fail, people who know that it’s okay to be wrong, it’s okay to fail, those are the people who are doing incredible things.
Let Other People Shine
Here’s the last one. Third, admitting that you’re wrong or admitting that you lost or you didn’t do the right thing, and someone else did, actually gives the other person a chance to shine. Stick with me here. Here’s why it’s important. If you read this, if you care about your mindset, you are an A player, winning, and the top 5% of whatever you’re doing. Maybe you’re the top 10% if you’re in a super highly competitive field, but you are up there. You are the person that people don’t want to play games with because they always lose. You’re the person that someone doesn’t want to compete against because they know that you’re going to be the winner.
Think about how it’ll feel for them when you finally let them win. You admit that you were wrong. I’m not saying let them win because you lost on purpose. I’m saying acknowledge, “That was amazing. Thanks for making that shot.” “That was an incredible idea. I wish I had thought of that. That is brilliant.” “You did such a good job on saving that deal when I had really screwed the pooch.”
Any of these things is allowing other people to shine. I don’t care how good you are and how much you want to be liked. If you’re the one who wins all the time, never fails, and never recognizes other people, people don’t like you. They may act like they like you, but they don’t like you. Why not give them the chance to shine? Why not own when you’re wrong?
Think about the pressure that this takes off of everyone, takes off of people who are around you, takes off of you. What would life be like if you were never afraid to fail? Think about that quote, “What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?” I’m going to modify it a little bit, “What would you do if you knew it was fine to be wrong?” I bet you’d do a whole hell of a lot. Get out there, start doing it, and own when you’re wrong. You’re going to find that so much more in your life goes right for you. Here’s to your success.
