I Was Wrong…
I was wrong. Three words. Very hard for many of us to say. Our pride, ego, whatever you want to call it would rather have us eat our own shoe than admit we were wrong. The human reaction is to be defensive. When we are confronted with a mistake, we first turn to counter attack. We withdrawal, deny and find a way out of the situation. This truth we are faced with smacks us right in the face and we have to deal with it. If we do not confront it, there is a series of chain reaction events that will unfold that are more damaging that the initial mistake in the first place.
Why is it then so many of us fear these three words? Is it pride, ego? These words are freeing, these words command more respect than any that a leader, anyone can use in daily language in my opinion. We all fail – there is the newsflash. We make mistakes, we learn and we grow. Our best ability in life is admitting our mistake immediately, take our lump and be forthright in our accountability to admit to others we have the discipline to be wrong. We earn more respect and trust when we accept the fact that we have not deflected or tried to spin the errors we make to others by assigning the blame or give excuses. It takes maturity, commitment to be a person who leads by this example. As leaders, we should accept more blame and give more credit. It is our duty to lead in this way. We know that no one is perfect. We should understand that each one of us is responsible for our choices and actions. It is why this one principle in life should be a cornerstone, foundation of how we lead others to find their own way of accepting their mistakes as building block of how their gain more knowledge and grow.
Being wrong, makes us right. It makes us accept others. We find that we lose judgment of others and accept that there is a peace to this process. There is fairness and honesty when we admit that we were wrong.
Thanks for the reminder, Jen. I need to apologize to my sister, but she won’t think better of me. I will be in trouble with her. Oh well.
Absolutely, right on, Jen. Admit the mistakes we ALL make early. It means we can learn, grown- and move on to where we all reach that perfect goal.
Thanks, Roy. The earlier we admit, the faster we can make good and take accountability for our actions. I have more respect for those who take accountability for their mistakes, own up to it and admit their are wrong. It’s so easy to forgive those who admit they have screwed up rather than those who hide, lie and never admit their error. Responsibility, accountability for choices we make are paramount. Our kids see us and others see that actions we take, we should ensure we are the example to this rule. Thanks again, Roy. I also love your take!
You never know the ripple your apology might make. It may not be sudden, but in time, the forgive may come. We cannot control others, only ourselves. If we show our ability to have the discipline to admit our error, in time, others may have the ability to give us their forgiveness of the action. It is up to us to have the courage to be able to admit our error and show the way. I would do it, Ann, so that you can be free of burden and move forward. I would love to know how it works out and wish you well.
Admitting your wrongs or errors is a freeing feeling, which raises you up to a new place to begin, regain, and move forward positively. An essential thing we need to remember, as you point out, Jen! Thanks!
it is a sign of strength and very hard to find someone who’d do so. so very true that we all need to do better.
Spot on! To me it’s a sign of inner strength to say “I Was Wrong”.
I agree, Denise. There is a lot of maturity, strength to say you are wrong. It takes a great deal of courage to admit mistakes and own up to them. If others can see that, it would be so ideal for them to realize they are releasing themselves from the burden of the anger, pain within. It takes far more energy to defend, lie and hide an error then it does to admit to being wrong. Thanks so much for your comment.
Thanks so much for your comment! Yes it is hard to do, but in doing so, we show that we have the courage to be strong and face our accountability to ourselves and others. It’s a commitment to make to ourselves that we have the ability to stand up for our choices and actions. I find that I have more faith in those who can admit their error than those who wish to hide their mistakes and not take the lessons learned from them. Failures happen to all of us. We know this, yet, we do not take the lesson in the error, rather, we’d have our ego take over and hide the mistake. We are missing out when we do this. Thanks again!
I believe that leaders will get their people to be more accountable if they too accept responsibility for mistakes, and are willing to learn from them. It’s almost impossible to build that kind of culture if we aren’t setting that example.
Admitting fault is a sign of maturity and willingness to learn. Great post!
Thanks, Dale. The culture begins at the top of any organization. If, as leaders, we set the tone that we are willing to be accountable for our actions then we are giving the example to others to follow suit. We each should have the ability to be willing to take consequences for our actions, words. To say you are wrong is powerful – it’s more than just apologizing, it’s taking ownership of yourself and be willing to step up that you will not blame others or make excuses. You are leading others to their own ability to be accountable and gain the trust of others. Thanks for spreading the message and for commenting. I appreciate it greatly.