GNT #065: Make your mistakes well

read time: 5 minutes

I hate making mistakes.

Especially the one I made last week.

I had a big kickoff meeting with my client and a new branding agency to help us rename and rebrand the company.

I logged on the virtual meeting early, so excited to launch the process with this agency.

I get a call.

"Uh, we're at your offices and no one's here."

Crap.

(...my heart sinks as I realize I dropped the ball on the location change.)

I take responsibility and apologize for the hiccup, reiterating how pumped we are to work together, and that I would ensure this wouldn't happen again.

The agency was brilliant, completely understood, was quick to pivot, and found an empty room to log into the virtual meeting.

Despite the challenge, the energy of our kickoff was off the charts.

We all logged off knowing we had the right agency partner to support our brand transformation.

But what about bigger mistakes?

In "The Book of Mistakes: Nine Secrets to Creating a Successful Future" author Skip Pritchard shares a story about a man that worked for him.

(Let's call him Mike.)

Mike walks into an executive conference room on a Monday morning, right after news they had just lost a major client...

and it was Mike's fault.

They had a letter from the client saying they were leaving because Mike did X, Y, and Z.

Mike was presenting on a completely different subject that morning.

Mike walked in and said, "I want to talk about what happened."

He acknowledged that it was his mistake.

"On my own dime, I've purchased a ticket to fly out there and talk to the client. I don't think we're going to win them back today. But I'm going to apologize in person.

I'm going to learn from this. I'm going to repair the relationship. And I'm also going to make up the money we lost as a firm."

Everyone in the room was completely speechless and ended up erupting into applause.

Because it's the opposite of what everybody does -- make excuses.

Mike took full ownership.

And he ended up getting a promotion over time.

No one likes making mistakes.

But making and learning from them is one of the fastest and most effective ways to progress in anything you do.

In today's newsletter, we discuss how important mistakes are, the best ways to deal/learn/grow from them, and why taking total ownership of your mistakes could be the best thing you ever do.

Let's dig in.

Mistakes make us human... and relatable

Before the success of Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling faced rejections from publishers, was unemployed, on welfare, depressed, and even considered suicide.

There's a clue as to how powerful mistakes are in the things we notice and remember when we listen to someone tell their story.

We tune out when the billionaire talks about all their success. 

We just can't relate to it.

But we tune in when that very same person talks about the struggles they've had and the mistakes they've made.

Mistakes teach us how to set our ego aside.
Mistakes make us relatable.
Mistakes help us connect.

Mistakes are stepping stones

Even the most successful people, paved their path with mistakes. 

• Thomas Edison: “I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.”
• Henry Ford: “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”
• Oprah Winfrey: “There is no such thing as failure. Failure is just life trying to move us in another direction.”
• Steve Jobs: "Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations."
• Arianna Huffington: “Failure is not the opposite of success, it's part of success.”
• Vera Wang: “Success isn’t about the end result; it’s about what you learn along the way.”

Some might not know that Vera Wang's biggest failure led her to build a fashion empire.

Her initial dream was to become an Olympic-level figure skater.

After failing to make the 1968 Olympics, Wang redirected her passion from ice skating to fashion, eventually becoming one of Vogue's youngest editors.

Seventeen years later, after being passed over for editor in chief, Wang left Vogue for her first job at a high-fashion label.

But it wasn’t until she began searching for her own wedding dress that she realized bridal was her calling.

So what?

What we can learn here is that successful people see mistakes not as a barrier, but as a step toward your goals.
 

Ownership of Mistakes Helps You Grow

Ownership is the backbone of personal and professional development.

When you acknowledge your role in a mistake without casting blame on others or external circumstances, you're helping to create a culture of accountability and openness to growth. 

Starbucks' response to a racial bias incident in one of their stores is a prime example of business taking ownership.

Starbucks not only publicly apologized, but also closed 8,000 stores for a day of racial bias training.

This showed commitment to values and responsibility, turning a negative incident into a learning opportunity for the entire organization.
 

Regaining Trust After a Mistake

"As soon as you admit you made a mistake, you are starting to earn back trust. Then do what you say you're going to do and continue to tell the truth. It's that simple."
- Jocko Willink, from his podcast "How To Regain Trust After a Mistake.

Dominos Pizza faced a significant setback when customers criticized the quality of their product.

In response, Dominos launched an ad campaign acknowledging these criticisms and detailing the steps they were taking to improve their pizza.

The transparency and commitment to quality helped ignite a turnaround, regained customer trust, and improved their brand image.

Takeaway

I've made countless mistakes in my business and life.

I don't like making them.

But I know I wouldn't be where I am if I didn't have the courage to make them.

Acknowledge them.

Own them.

And learn from them.

I hope to always make my mistakes well.

We're in this together. See you next week.
 

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