By Chad Kearns
Sparked, Fired Up! Culture’s every-other-week newsletter, is focused on what drives culture and engagement in the workplace. This newsletter is for leaders who are ready to get intentional about bringing their team together, building engagement, and harnessing the power of culture to build high-performing teams. Sign up here to get every edition of Sparked delivered straight to your inbox.
Ignite your Team by Acknowledging What Didn’t Go Well
Not everything at work goes to plan.
Campaigns flop. Deadlines are missed. Balls get dropped. Expectations go missed.
Even leaders misstep.
How leaders respond to those missteps matters.
When missteps occur, leaders are presented with an opportunity to engage their team and build psychological safety.
Gracefully accepting responsibility, owning missteps, and acknowledging what didn’t go to plan or what didn’t go as well as it should have is a meaningful way to bring your team together.
Unfortunately, many leaders struggle to take ownership and avoid acknowledging what didn’t go well.
It’s easier to deflect. It’s easier to ignore the issue. It’s easier to focus on the next task at hand.
Acknowledging what didn’t go well requires vulnerability. It requires humility. And it requires a leader to raise their hand and admit they didn’t follow through as well as they were expected to.
Acknowledging what didn’t go well and owning a misstep is hard.
But leaders who take the time to acknowledge what didn’t go well harness an opportunity to bring their team together. Humility, ownership, and communication drive engagement from team members.
Looking for ways to fire up your team members and build a high-performing team?
Acknowledge what didn’t go well.
Take Action to Acknowledge What Didn’t Go Well
Still trying to figure out where to start? Here’s how to take action today:
- Trust your Gut to Identify Missteps: More often than not, if something didn’t go well, we probably already know it didn’t go well. Trust your gut. Your past experiences, personal instincts, and the reactions from those around you are strong indicators to what went well and what did not.
- Ask Others to Identify Missteps: Sometimes, we need to go to trusted team members to get their honest take. Going to team members to get their perspective may uncover missteps along that way that we didn’t realize. It goes without saying but surfacing these missteps is critical to acknowledging what didn’t go well.
- Communicate What Didn’t Go Well: This seems straightforward, but many leaders struggle here. Surface what was intended to happen. Communicate what happened and where the misstep was.
- Communicate Ownership: Here is where leaders have the opportunity to raise their hand, get vulnerable, and own their mistakes. Avoid pushing blame elsewhere. Own it. Set the example for others to follow in the future if (and when) other missteps occur.
- Communication What Will be Different Next Time: What steps are being taken to avoid a repeat issue? What did you learn from this? How will it be different next time? Communicating answers to these questions surface the lessons learned and the ability to grow and improve. Again, set the example for others in the future.
- Thank Those Impacted for their Grace: Perfection is not a reasonable expectation from anyone. Missteps are going to happen. How we respond to missteps often defines how others choose to engage with us. Be thankful and appreciative for other’s grace.
New Reading Room Recommendation
Drive by Daniel Pink dives into the psychology of human motivation, challenging traditional notions and introducing a fresh perspective on what drives individuals to excel in their work and lives.
Pink argues that while external rewards and punishments can be effective for routine tasks, they often fall short when it comes to more complex, creative endeavors.
Destinations International Members: Register for May’s BizOps Virtual Roundtable!
What’s Next? Shaping Successful Career Pathing and Succession Planning
Effective workforce development is vital to the present and future success of any destination. Join us for the next BizOps virtual roundtable session, which will feature a panel of three organizational development experts from the Fired Up! Culture team, to learn how destinations can successfully navigate career pathing and succession planning to lead their workforces forward.
Please Note: This opportunity is only available for Destinations International members.
Further Exploration on Acknowledging What Didn’t Go Well
- Good things happen when leaders reflect on their mistakes
- Why Making Mistakes Is Essential for Growth as a Real Leader
- What Is Psychological Safety at Work? How Leaders Can Build Psychologically Safe Workplaces
Need help developing actionable plans for creating a culture of excellence in your organization?
Check out our Fired-Up! Culture Index today
