How To Recover From An Oops With Integrity
I know you try really hard to make sure you follow through, get things done, show up and be the person you really want to be. No matter how hard you try, though, every now and then there’s an oops. You are human. We all are! That means
How do you recover from a mistake with integrity? There are just 4 things to remember.
that we sometimes make mistakes. The question is, how do you recover from those mistakes? And how do you rebuild trust so that you’ll be seen as having integrity again?
It’s not as hard as it might seem. Most people want to trust you. They want you to be your best self. So, they expect it 9 times out of 10. This means it doesn’t take too much to restore that trust. All it takes is a few things that demonstrate integrity to get it back. How do you do that?
Own the mistake – You get brownie points when you own your mistake up front. If you know you made a mistake and know you have to fix it, then say you made a mistake. Admit where it went wrong. If they come to you first, then admit your mistake the moment you are called out. Don’t hem and haw. Be confident.
Offer to fix it somehow – Whatever the mistake, find a way to fix it, make it better, or even just start fresh and do something new. Maybe it’s just an “I’ll do better next time.” Offer something. If you offer something on a timeline, make sure you buffer that time line so there’s no question that you’ll get to it and possibly even be early.
Follow through – Follow through on whatever promise you make to fix it. Make a note, plan it into your calendar, set an alarm etc… Whatever you have to do to make sure you DO follow through on that promise.
Never make the same mistake twice – Just as when we make mistakes in relationship with a significant other, you can NOT let the mistake happen twice. Put something into place to make sure it doesn’t happen with this person OR anyone else, ever again.
If you do these four things after a mistake, you’ll have your integrity back and the trust of the person who was affected. What do you need to do in order to own it next time you make a mistake?
