Page 180 - Fearless Leadership

Standing for the Success of Each Other 167

2. In order to profit from your mistakes, you have to get out and
make some.
3. And my favorite—why make the same mistake over and over
again when there are so many new ones that you could be
making?

“On a more serious note, I want to apologize for a mistake I made.
I did not include you from the beginning with my vision for a new cul-
ture and did not plan effectively to make sure I put you at the front of
the process. Things happened fast, and I did not realize my error until
we were well down the road.
“Joan and Al pointed out my mistake, and they were correct. I need
you as my committed partners. I cannot build our high performance
culture alone. This mission requires all of us working and thinking
together. You can count on the fact that I won’t make this same mis-
take again. However, I will make new ones.”

Dominic is a powerful leader. People felt that if he could own his mis-
takes and recover, then so could they. He demonstrated that the way to
rebuild trust is to immediately address the issue, clean up, and make a
commitment to new action.
A word of warning: clean ups never work when used as a technique.
They must be authentic and from the heart. As you begin doing clean
ups, do not expect that your mea culpa will engender a similar response.
This never works, and it will be seen for what it is—a manipulation. Treat
your clean up as your action for taking accountability, without expecting
that others will clean up with you.
Relationships require maintenance and attention. Put all issues,
assumptions, and judgments on the table. If you wonder about some-
thing, say it. If you have questions about how another person perceives
you, ask.
Don’t leave relationships to chance. Even if you do not have something
specific to clean up, check with others to see if anything is missing. Ask
“Do we need to clean up anything with each other?” or “Are there any
unresolved issues that we need to address?” Take accountability and ini-
tiate a relationship check in; do not wait for others to come to you.