Mistakes Happen!!!! Don’t beat yourself up
July 27, 2011“Mistakes happen.” We hear this all the time and yet when we make a mistake we feel terrible and sometimes beat ourselves up over it. I am here to tell you that mistakes are expected. We are all human and we all make mistakes. It’s what you do with those mistakes, after the mistake is made, that matters.
When you make a mistake you should give yourself a few minutes to feel sorry for yourself and beat yourself up if that’s what you want to do. However, you should not dwell on it and after a short time you MUST spring into action. [more…at The Paralegal]
Truer words have never been spoken …
I have always been a huge advocate of fessin’ up, especially when it comes to work. My mother and father raised me to admit to my mistakes and to correct them – and it wasn’t always easy to do.
I spent a lot of time working in BigLaw and I saw, first-hand, how others handled mistakes – some would try to hide them, others would try to fix them, there were those who would try to pass the blame, and then there were the few brave ones that would speak up and take ownership of their mistakes. I’d like to think I am one of the latter.
As a business owner, I know that my clients expect me to know what I’m doing and to do it right. Well, like my colleague, Ana Pierro, points out in her blog (yes, I borrowed the title of her post), mistakes happen. There have been times when I have filed a document with a missing page or forgotten to include an exhibit or even mistyped a case number, but I have always owned up and let my clients know and been ready with a corrective action. There have also been times when I found out about the mistake after my client received an e-mail or call from opposing counsel, or worse, from the clerk.
I held my head high, accepted responsibility, determined the means to correct the mistake, and fixed it on my own dime. It’s just what you have to do. You’ll feel better about yourself, your clients (employers) will respect you, and you will never make that mistake again :).
