The Reward of Being Honest
By Intrigue
Looking at your task list, you realize that you forgot to do something. You dropped the ball a couple of weeks ago and no one has noticed. You feel your stomach drop and the heat rise to your face. For a split second, you imagine the bliss of not revealing the mistake to anyone. Who would find out? This blissful thought quickly turns to guilt and you glance around furtively to see if anyone noticed.
RELAX! People make mistakes. You are only human. You’re not perfect…no one is.
The important thing to know is that learning from your mistakes is how you improve, both as a person and as a team member.
Owning up to your errors is the responsible thing to do, and it also empowers you to correct your mistake. Then, once the mistake is acknowledged and fixed, you will feel better about yourself and you will feel relieved.
Honesty gives way to trust and trust is the foundation for healthy relationships. Inform the involved parties of the error and provide them with the next steps to resolve the situation. They will appreciate and respect your honesty. As Alexander Pope said: “To err is human; to forgive, divine.”
At Intrigue, we have a culture that supports failing fast. This means we are encouraged to try things, to try new things, and that it’s okay to make mistakes along the way. These mistakes/fails will help us learn, help us grow, and help us find success.
A team needs to have each other’s backs. If someone on the team makes a mistake, it’s important not to blame the individual, but to learn from their mistake, as a team. If the team trusts each other, they will be able to learn from each other’s mistakes and become stronger in the future. This will create a winning culture.
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Great post, Melanie!
It can be very hard to be honest sometimes. I find that when it’s hard to be honest, the cons of not being proactive and honest heavily outweigh the pros. If we can do this, the world will be a better place!