Bonehead moves, we all make them. Heck I’ve made quite a few in the past month. Looking back, I probably would have done things differently, but hey, when you look back it’s always easy to say what you SHOULD have done.
Bonehead moves come in all shapes and sizes, maybe you say something stupid on twitter, perhaps you aren’t to sharp on a phone call with a company executive, you could have even blown a partnership agreement. We’re all human and we all make mistakes, but don’t beat yourself up over a bonehead move because believe me, there will be many more. So what should you do when you make a bonehead move?
- recognize you made a bonehead move
- reconcile your bonehead move by trying to fix it, apologize, ask for another chance, try to regain trust
- ask what you can do to fix or repair the situation
- show that you are putting an effort into fixing your bonehead move
You don’t need to go overboard by begging for forgiveness (unless you did something really stupid) but definitely show that you understand and acknowledge you did something stupid and try to fix it. Past that you need to just go on living life. We make mistakes all the time and you can only do so much to try to fix them, at a certain point you need to realize you did all you could and you need to move on.
I’ve called executives by the wrong name in emails, have accidentally skipped or been late to a meeting, etc. Usually people understand that mistakes are a part of life.
Remember, we all make bonehead moves, do what you can to fix them and move on, there are always going to be some situations you just can’t make better, accept it.
What was your last bonehead move and what did you do fix it?
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