The Art of Apologizing
When I was a young leader, one of my biggest growth areas was apologizing. For ambitious entrepreneurs, saying you’re sorry can be a difficult thing to master. I get it. Young entrepreneurs want to move fast. Taking the time to stop, apologize, and remedy a situation can feel like an unnecessary waste of time.
But I’ve found that the ability to apologize immediately, and with sincerity, is essential for being a great leader. You can’t ask your team to take responsibility for their actions if you’re unwilling to take responsibility for your own. And let’s be honest: there will be times when you make a mistake that demands an apology, and those who follow you will need to hear it. It comes with the territory of running a business and running it well.
If you try to assign blame to someone else or just chalk things up to a misunderstanding, you’re not actually apologizing. You’re justifying. Phrases like, “I’m sorry for how that appeared, but…” and “That happened because what this person did…” rob apologies of their healing properties. Just like you don’t want poor excuses from your team, your team doesn’t want poor excuses from you.
As a leader, there will be times when you need to accept responsibility for something when you could easily pass the buck on to someone else. Maybe someone on your team failed, but it’s you as their leader who needs to take the responsibility for it. Your ego and ambition need to take a back seat to team unity.
Recommendation: Avoid the word “but” in apologies. Also avoid bringing up anyone else in the apology. It should be about you making things right between you and the person or team in front of you. Period.
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