Out Of the Mouth Of Babes- Mistake and Corrections

Yesterday my daughter and son received a package filled with birthday gifts for them since their birthday's are in January. They deliciously tore in to their packages to see what was in their presents all while their little sister stood with a dejected look on her face. Oh, yes, she did a quick scan to see if any of the presents were for her, even though she knew it was not her birthday.

So we called Auntie Sarah to thank her for the gifts but got her voice mail instead. So Rory grabbed the phone and said thanks for his gift card, Ce'Anna enthusiastically thanked her all of her presents and as I walked the phone to back to hang it up, Michaela belted out, "thanks for nothing." I wasn't sure if I had hung up the phone fast enough or if that was caught on the message to my sister.

Well, I tell you it is one of those moments that you discipline them right there but you laugh about later and can't wait to share with your friends. So up to her room, Michaela goes to think about greed and what she did wrong.

Since we have already punished her and we weren't sure if my sister had heard it, we didn't know if we should have Michaela call back or let it go. We decided to not have her call back.

The next night at dinner, Michaela brought it up and asked if she should call back and say she was sorry. But she hastly added that maybe I should call first and see if Auntie Sarah even heard it as if she didn't , no need to call and say sorry! (and yes, we now know she did hear it and she has had a blast telling all of her friends about it!!)

So we called and Michaela bravely said she was sorry. When I told her that her aunt's opinion of her had gone up because she took the leadership route and admitted and corrected a mistake she made she beamed from ear to ear.

You see, it is not important if you make blunders, what is important is how you handle the blunders aferwards. The earlier you start teaching how to gracefully admit to mistakes and correct them the better off you are.

In a corporation this means leaders admitting if a new initiative is wrong, a sales person owning up to a shipping problem to a client or an employee admitting a mistake was made and then correcting it. Remember people mind less about the mistake made if they know you will always admit to it, correct it and adjust so you don't make the same mistake again and again.

Anne Warfield, www.impressionmanagement.com