\u201cI\u2019m sorry. I made a mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n
How many times have you heard a leader offer up that kind of explanation for something they\u2019ve done?<\/strong><\/p>\n Got caught fudging the numbers?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sorry. I made a mistake.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Told a blatant lie?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sorry. I made a mistake.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Had an inappropriate relationship?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sorry. I made a mistake.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Here\u2019s the point. Somewhere along the way, our culture has come to accept the phrase, \u201cI made a mistake\u201d as being the same as acknowledging, \u201cI was wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n But these are not the same thing. Not even close.<\/p>\n And leaders must recognize the enormous differences between the two if they are to protect their integrity and their character.<\/p>\n Here are 5 important distinctions between making a mistake, and doing something wrong.<\/p>\n For leaders there are important ways that understanding these distinctions can enhance your leadership today.<\/p>\n Everyone makes mistakes. But not everyone does something wrong and calls it a mistake. The difference sounds minor, but the implications are significant.<\/p>\n For leaders who value their integrity, it\u2019s a distinction worth mastering.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cI\u2019m sorry. I made a mistake.\u201d How many times have you heard a leader offer up that kind of explanation for something they\u2019ve done? Got caught fudging the numbers? \u201cI\u2019m sorry. I made a mistake.\u201d Told a blatant lie? \u201cI\u2019m sorry. I made a mistake.\u201d Had an inappropriate relationship? \u201cI\u2019m sorry. I made a mistake.\u201d…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5395,"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":[3,738,478,7,581,585],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-action","category-effectiveness-2","category-featured","category-leadership","category-self-assessment","category-wisdom-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5393","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=5393"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5400,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5393\/revisions\/5400"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
A mistake is an honest error involving facts or miscalculating an outcome.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Doing something wrong involves a moral failure.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
A mistake can result from attempting new initiatives.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Doing something wrong can result from knowingly crossing a clear ethical boundary.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
A mistake can be a learning opportunity resulting in growth.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Doing something wrong can lead towards the erosion of character.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
A mistake can indicate there is an area of competence that requires development.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Doing something wrong can indicate there is an area of character that requires development.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
A mistake is something that leaders should never fear.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Doing something wrong is something leaders should shun completely.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
\n
If you tried something new and it didn\u2019t work out? Own it. Acknowledge the mistake, learn and move on.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
If you committed a breach of ethics, don\u2019t call it a mistake. Let people know you were wrong. Fix it, and learn from it.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n