Good Leaders Can Admit Mistakes
Good Leaders Can Admit MistakesIt is important for good leaders to be able to admit mistakes. If their egos won't let them, they lose credibility and trust.
A good example is Mike Shanahan's handling of the Denver Broncos' quarterback controversy after two consecutive Super Bowl championship seasons and John Elway's retirement. Shanahan maintained throughout the training camp that Elway's former backup, Bubby Brister, would be the starter for the regular season. But a week prior to the first game, Shanahan arbitrarily installed rookie Brian Griese as the starter. This caused Shanahan to lose the trust of the veterans on the team and the respect of the community, and it affected the team's spirit all season. The Broncos started the season with four straight losses, during the fourth of which star running back Terrell Davis tore his ACL while tackling a defender who had intercepted a Griese pass, and finished the season with 6 wins and 10 losses. If Shanahan had sometime admitted that he handled the situation poorly, and perhaps reinstated Brister, he might have been forgiven and regained trust and respect. But he never did.
Barbara Corday, a highly successful television producer, is quoted in OnBecomingaLeader (p.96) as saying "I'm not afraid to make a mistake, and I'm not afraid to say afterward, 'Boy, that was a mistake. Let's try something else'. I think that wins people over. Now, I don't make mistakes purposely, but when I make one, I admit it."
It is all right to change one's mind and EmbraceConfusion.
Sometimes we wish our leaders would do that. It gives everyone, leader included, a chance for a fresh start.
Maybe this is relevant: A friend of mine is fond of quoting something Chris Evert (a very successful pro tennis player) once said: "I never change a winning game." The idea is that as long as what you're doing is working, you can keep doing it. But when something is not working, admit that, and try something different to see if it will work better. Seems to me that leaders needs to be able to do this.
Interestingly, maybe this is what the Denver Broncos' coach did. Maybe things weren't working well with the first QB, so he tried another. Maybe things weren't working well with the second one and he should have switched back to the first. At any rate, it sounds like he needed to communicate better with his players and fans on why his decisions were what they were. Communication is also an important part of leadership.
-- BobbyWoolf, 08/17/00
My brother feels that Bush shouldn't publicly admit that he exaggerated the Iraq WMD and Al-Quida evidence because it would "show weakness" to do so. I didn't get that. Humility would improve the situation if you ask me, not make it worse. 85% of the world thinks Bush is an arrogant, pushy twit. Maybe my brother feels that a "determined" pushy twit is better than a uncertain semi-pushy twit. In my opinion, Bush spent his entire credibility bank account. There is no more for future needs. When he barks, they may now fear his bite more, but our nation will be one lonely dog.
http://jimcollins.com/lib/articles/01_01_a.html
While admitting mistakes seems like a good idea to me, it seems that many people do the opposite:
AdministratorsAreNotLeaders. Leaders can admit mistakes, because no one can fire them. Administrators can't if they want to continue to be appointed in their jobs. See PeopleAreTheProblem, WhatIsLeadership, BecomeCompetent.
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(last edited December 4, 2005)
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