{"id":4556,"date":"2015-04-13T19:17:25","date_gmt":"2015-04-14T00:17:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scottcochrane.com\/?p=4556"},"modified":"2015-04-13T19:17:25","modified_gmt":"2015-04-14T00:17:25","slug":"5-sorry-sorries-to-avoid-as-a-leader-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/2015\/04\/13\/5-sorry-sorries-to-avoid-as-a-leader-2\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Sorry Sorries to Avoid as a Leader"},"content":{"rendered":"

Updated from April 15, 2013 post<\/em><\/p>\n

This week I watched some news coverage of yet another leader who was caught in a compromising situation, requiring him to issue a public apology.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The problem was that, like so many leaders, this person didn’t seem to know how<\/em>\u00a0to apologize.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Authentic leaders must learn the difference between an authentic, humble apology, and mere image management.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And this has brought to mind an earlier post where I outlined 5 sorry “sorries”…<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>One reason leaders sometimes struggle with the apology is that many fall into one of these five apology blunders. If you need to issue an apology, avoid these sorry \u201csorries\u201d.<\/p>\n

\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>The \u201cI\u2019m Sorry\u00a0to<\/em>\u00a0Everyone\u201d Apology<\/strong><\/p>\n

An apology should be limited to the person or people directly offended by the offense.<\/p>\n

If you wronged a member of your board, you don\u2019t have to apologize to the entire congregation.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>The \u201cI\u2019m Sorry\u00a0for<\/em>\u00a0Everything\u201d Apology<\/strong><\/p>\n

A friend of mine was asked by his church to issue a public apology for a series of leadership mis-steps, most of which were well beyond his responsibility.<\/p>\n

Own your stuff, but don\u2019t own everyone else\u2019s stuff.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>The \u201cI\u2019m Sorry\u00a0If<\/em>\u2026\u201d Apology<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some celebrities and politicians have become masters of this one.<\/p>\n

It usually goes like this: \u201cI\u2019m sorry if my drunken behavior caused you any offence\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

We hear the word \u201csorry\u201d, so we think that was an apology. But it really wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Let your \u201csorry\u201d be \u201csorry\u201d. Take out the \u201cif\u201d.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>The \u201cI\u2019m Sorry,\u00a0But<\/em>\u201d Apology<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ever heard one like this?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry for being so rude, but I was really tired.\u201d<\/p>\n

Again, it sort of sounds like an apology, because it contains the word \u201csorry\u201d. However, as soon as you insert the word \u201cbut\u201d, it really isn\u2019t an apology anymore.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>The \u201cI\u2019m Sorry\u2026Eventually<\/em>\u201d Apology<\/strong><\/p>\n

The expression \u201cjustice delayed is justice denied\u201d has a cousin; \u201cAn apology delayed is an apology denied.\u201d<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t make the mistake of waiting too long to issue your apology. Own up as soon as reasonably possible.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s face it. If you\u2019re in leadership for any length of time, you\u00a0will<\/em>\u00a0blow it at some point. And you will need to issue an apology.<\/p>\n

But by avoiding these sorry \u201csorries\u201d you can make your road back to credibility much smoother.<\/p>\n

What have you learned about saying \u201csorry\u201d in your leadership?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Updated from April 15, 2013 post This week I watched some news coverage of yet another leader who was caught in a compromising situation, requiring him to issue a public apology. The problem was that, like so many leaders, this person didn’t seem to know how\u00a0to apologize. Authentic leaders must learn the difference between an…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[738,440,478],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-effectiveness-2","category-failing","category-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4556"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4556\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4562,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4556\/revisions\/4562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}