It Is Okay to Make Mistakes Along the Way

The good news about a long career is that you learn a lot. The flipside of that is that you make a ton of mistakes. I’ve had my share of mistakes.

Here are my top 5 leadership mistakes:

1. I put my trust in the wrong person, and I’ve been snakebit more than once.
2. I gave and gave and gave in hopes that others would do the same.
3. I erred on the side of being too analytical versus being approachable.
4. I worked 24/7 because I had a lot to get done. Ha ha ha!
5. I did not ask for help when I most needed it.

The biggest leadership lesson I learned: Know yourself, teach others, and it’s okay to make mistakes along the way.

Here’s the question:

Think about some work you are doing today, the work you want to do well. Now imagine looking back at this work in a week or a month.

• What aspect of this work would still seem meaningful?
• How do you wish you had approached your work?
• What do you wish you had worried less about?
• What do you wish you had emphasized and focused more on to make this work more meaningful and purposeful?

Please make some commitments to yourself today regarding how you will approach work differently.