I'm Sorry

I’m Sorry...

      thisphrase, just two words, and only 3 syllables, is often the least spoken bysomeone in a position of leadership. Too often, as leaders we feel the need topresent ourselves as invincible and infallible. We may never, if rarely, speakthese words. There may be a few reasons for this. Maybe it’s our belief that ifwe are seen as less than perfect, we run the risk of having our credibilityquestioned. Possibly it’s because we aren’t courageous enough to look someonein the face and acknowledge our shortcomings. There’s also a good chance that wemight be so caught up in our own progress and movement, we don’t even realizehow we might be negatively impacting others.

As a leader, the mistakes you make never just affectyou. There is ALWAYS a trickle-down effect that comes as a result of your poordecisions, slip ups, and negative behaviors. When a leader drops the ball, theyrun the risk of compromising the organization’s mission, disrupting the harmonyof a team, and fracturing relationships, especially with those who aresubordinate to them.

Saying I’m sorry, owning up to yourmistakes, and being accountable for your actions is truly an exercise ingrowth. Once you allow yourself to utter those words a realmof positive outcomes become possible.

Here’s what saying I’m Sorry does for you:

It demonstrates humility.

As leaders, we should want nothing more from ourfollowers than their respect and support. When we demonstrate humility, we areshowing we are relatable, that we understand where they are coming from, andthat we, like them, always have room to grow.

It demonstrates resilience.

The people who are under our charge are far fromperfect. Guess what, SO ARE WE! We may do certain things perfect. We may havecertain skills and talents, but we are human and will always make mistakes.Saying I’m Sorry allows us to recognize where we have shortcomings, but moreimportantly, allows us an opportunity to bounce back from our mistakes. Thebest leaders want their teams to grow. They recognize the need to error fromtime to time, but to also bounce back.

It demonstrates commitment.

True leadership is relationship focused. Members ofany organization need to feel as they are valued, appreciated, and supported. Withso many opportunities available to the workforce today, staying with anorganization out of necessity is no longer the only option. In other words,if they come to the determination that the organization’s leadership is toxic,there’s a good chance they’ll seek employment elsewhere. If leadership treatsemployees more like numbers, with little regard to the impact of their words oractions, they can expect their numbers to drop. However, offering a sincere apologyfor your misguided deeds demonstrates a commitment to the individual andprovides them more reason to stick around and recommit to you and theorganization.

Hopefully by now, you’re starting to appreciate thebenefits that come from personal accountability. When done correctly, owningup to our mistakes can revive our focus—we no longer have that monkey on ourback. When done correctly, owning up to our mistakes can heal a fracturedrelationship—we can now speak openly about the way forward. These are possible,but only if we say I’m Sorry correctly.

Our I’m Sorry moment should be authentic. Weshouldn’t just offer lip service to it, we should have a genuine desire to dobetter, and rebuild.

Our I’m Sorry moment should offer solutions anda promise for the way ahead. The words in themselves become useless if theyaren’t followed up with action that validates them.

Our I’m Sorry moment should be appropriatelytimed. If not offered soon enough, we run the risk of increasing the space betweenourselves and those we lead. The trickle-down effect that comes from ourmistakes may get to a point of irreversibility if we wait too long.

The truth of the matter is this; the words I’mSorry may be the hardest to say, and in doing so, we force ourselves toexamine our imperfections. But building the courage to utter these wordsalso offers the greatest of freedoms one could ever imagine.

Editor’sNote: W. Scott Greeneis the co-founder of Llama Leadership, an Air Force veteran, adjunct collegeprofessor, and leads workforce and organizational development programs for anon-profit agency in South Texas.