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4 Reasons Great Leaders Admit Their Mistakes

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You can never go at leadership alone. Unfortunately, too many leaders allow their egos and hidden agendas to stand in the way of doing what is best for the people and organizations they serve. Leaders are not responsible for always being right. However, they are accountable to see that problems become opportunities and solutions are proactively found so that momentum is never lost. They should know who the subject matter experts are on their team(s) and empower them during times of crisis and change so that the organization is not blindsided by the unexpected.

As any great leader will tell you, they have made many mistakes along the way. They will admit that it was the collective insight from bad decisions that taught them invaluable lessons – and how to see opportunities in everything and anticipate the unexpected more quickly. Successful leaders are transparent enough with themselves and others to admit their wrong doings so that those around them can also benefit from their learnings. They call this wisdom and many leaders lack it – because they are too proud to recognize mistakes as valuable learning moments for themselves and others.

Managing mistakes is much like leading change management. Everyone is in search of the clarity and understanding to minimize risk and discover the short and long term rewards of change. We focus so much time on maximizing our strengths but not enough time on understanding how and why we fail – which is equally important to success in the marketplace.

Becoming the most effective leader requires us to take on the responsibility of dissecting both the why and the how of both our successes and our failures. It’s important to see these through circular vision to best evaluate the dynamics that we deal with on a daily basis. They exist around, beneath and beyond what we seek to create through the impact and influence of our leadership role. Taking a 360 approach gives us the broadened observation to see things more clearly and provides us with the perspectives that we often ignore. We spend so much time on the here and now – rather than on the why and how, which is what ultimately teaches us to lead more effectively towards more sustainable outcomes.

Making mistakes is such an important part of the leadership journey. I am certainly not suggesting to be reckless when leading – but be responsible to know why things didn’t work in your favor and how you could have approached things differently. Because we live in a more short-term, rapid-paced world of work – we need to be more mindful of pacing ourselves, to take the time to self-evaluate and learn from our mistakes.

The best way we can stay in front of the market is by strengthening the ecosystem (foundation of people and resources) that allows us to make decisions more effectively and with increasing levels of success and significance. If we don’t know how to make our ecosystem stronger, we run the risk of never being able to stay ahead of the game as we begin to lose momentum. Without a strong ecosystem, we can never mature and develop as leaders. Perhaps this explains why many leaders become followers.

To make sure you are always maturing and developing as a leader, here are four reasons leaders should admit when they make mistakes:

1. It Earns Respect

People don’t expect perfection from their leaders – they just demand their unwavering attention and bold initiative. When leaders are honest about their shortfalls and can learn from their mistakes, they earn respect and along the way create an environment of transparency.

Respected leaders take the calculated risks that others won’t when they fear too much making the wrong decision and having to face the consequences. But playing it too safe fails to earn respect; what does earn respect is real leadership not afraid to change the conversation and challenge the status quo in service to the betterment of a healthier whole. Competitive advantage springs from the ability to anticipate change and then being courageous enough to act on it before circumstances force your hand – and before the opportunity passes you by.

2. Vulnerability Strengthens The Team

When leaders admit to mistakes, it brings clarity to opportunity gaps and elevates a deeper sense of accountability that can be shared amongst the team. Everyone begins to value the importance of having each other’s back.

Vulnerability is a sign of leadership strength, yet many leaders are tentative to reveal what has traditionally been viewed as a weakness – too concerned with how they will be perceived by others. They believe it will undermine their executive presence and make them seem less authoritative. More comfortable hiding behind their title, they haven’t built the confidence to leverage their influence and put their ideas and ideals to the test. This creates a real barrier between leaders and their teams, at a time when more than ever people want to relate to their leaders as individuals and want to know that their leaders have experienced the same problems and overcome similar obstacles to get where they are today.

3. Leading By Example

When leaders are accountable for their mistakes, they are leading by example. This elevates employee engagement to a point where leaders – by giving them permission not to fear making the wrong decision – are empowering employees to take more initiative, knowing that they’re not always going to have the right answer.

Great leaders do not hesitate to make the difficult decisions and lead by example by putting themselves on the frontlines of change. They gravitate towards what others may see as a “leap of faith” and willingly accept the challenge inherent in any problem because they see the opportunity. Facing the risk and potential obstacles along the way, they readily take on the responsibility, admit their mistakes if they fail, and learn from the experience.

4. Builds a Culture of Trust

When leaders admit to making mistakes – creating an opportunity to earn respect, strengthen their teams and lead by example – it ultimately builds a culture of trust. A workplace culture that promotes trust allows employees to live with an entrepreneurial attitude, which stimulates innovation and initiative.

People are tired of surprises in the workplace and a culture of trust promotes greater alignment and clarity of thought. With each decision made or new relationship cultivated, employees want to know they are operating in a workplace environment that puts a premium on truth and transparency. This means leaders who are not only open about sharing where the company is headed, but are trusted to steer its future and secure its legacy.

With mistakes come key learnings. With each key learning comes more experience. With experience comes the greater ability to identify opportunity.   Opportunities seized rightly can be the ultimate game changer and a leader’s platform to advance their career, their organization and the industry they serve.

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