Page 179 - Fearless Leadership

166 FEARLESS LEADERSHIP

The skill of cleaning up is simple and direct. Take accountability for
your impact, apologize, and make a promise about your future actions.
Then behave consistently with what you have promised. When should you
clean up? Any time you “wonder” if you have had a limiting or damaging
impact on another person or group. Act immediately the moment you
sense that something is off. Do not wait; override the automatic lure to
avoid or postpone action. As soon as you hear that nagging voice in your
head about something you said, or wish you had said, talk to the appro-
priate person. It’s as simple as that. Make the decision to communicate,
and take decisive action.
The act of cleaning up demonstrates that you value the relationship.
When you clean up and apologize, you remove the opportunity for peo-
ple to hold onto negative experiences or build assumptions and stories. It
strengthens your credibility as a leader when you increase safety for oth-
ers to speak up and take accountability.

Clean Up
Immediately taking accountability for your impact on others and
restoring the relationship.

Taking accountability for a mistake or undesired impact gives others the
freedom to deal with their mistakes in a productive and healthy way. You
want people who are willing to take calculated risks and correct their
behavior immediately when something does not work. Most importantly,
you want people who are focused on achieving business objectives rather
than preoccupied with managing or hiding unresolved issues.
Below is an excerpt from a speech given by Dominic, a CEO of a busi-
ness consulting company, to his leadership group. Six months prior, he
had taken a stand for building a high performance culture and commit-
ted to learn everything he had asked of others. His speech demonstrated
his commitment to action and inspired others to learn and grow.

“Here’s what I have learned about mistakes in my life:

1. It’s just as easy to make a big mistake as it is to make a
small one.