I'M NOT PROUD OF WHAT I'M ABOUT TO TELL YOU

Last week I made a mistake. Not a big one, but one I'm not proud of and I regret the fall out to others and the harm it may have caused to my reputation.

I was sloppy as a result of being distracted and rushed.

I had a couple of choices once I realised what I had done. One was to pretend nothing happened and hope that no one noticed. I might have chosen this in the past.

Another was to own what I did, apologise and vow to be more careful in the future. I chose this path and am glad I did. Importantly, I did this immediately I realised the mistake. I didn't wait to see if anyone noticed. I just took responsibility for it straight away.

When you own a mistake you do several things

• you do the right thing - even though this might be the hard thing
• you show others that you care - even though it's painful
• you reveal that you are vulnerable - people know that you are not perfect and showing that you are human increases the likelihood they will engage with you
• you learn - I am going to be more present and more organised in future.

Something unexpected happened soon after I acted to take responsibility for the mistake. I received a lot of communication, mostly positive, about acting honestly and quickly. In some ways I turned a negative into a positive.

Being authentic is paramount to being an effective leader. Even when you stuff up you can grow your leadership capability.

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