Since we’re only human and we all make mistakes, it’s important to know when and how to effectively apologize. This practice is especially important for business leaders who seek to maintain positive public relations (reputation management) for their companies among their constituents.
Tom Peters (@tom_peters), author of In Search of Excellence, encourages business leaders to become students of apology. In this video he says, "Learning how to apologize effectively is the real essence of strategic strength."
In their Forbes (@Forbes) article Creative Leadership: Humility and Being Wrong, Doug Guthrie and Sudhir Venkatesh say:
We are frequently taught that leaders, especially aspiring leaders, should hide weaknesses and mistakes. This view is flawed. It is not only good to admit you are wrong when you are; but also it can also be a powerful tool for leaders—actually increasing legitimacy and, when practiced regularly, can help to build a culture that actually increases solidarity, innovation, openness to change and many other positive features of organizational life.
In another Forbes article, Courageous Leaders Don't Make Excuses...They Apologize, Erika Andersen offers an “apology primer”:
· I’m sorry: this is the core of a genuine apology. Communicate that you truly regret your behavior.
· Stay in the first person: don’t say “I’m sorry...you didn’t understand me.” A true apology sounds like, “I’m sorry I....”
· Don’t equivocate: don’t water it down with excuses.
· Say how you’ll fix it: if you genuinely regret your words or actions, you’ll commit to changing.
· Do it: when you don’t follow through, people question not only your courage, but also your trustworthiness.
In her article for the Ivey Business Journal (@iveybusiness) titled: Should Business Leaders Apologize? Why, When, and How an Apology Matters, Linda Stamato writes:
Questions of timing are critical. The longer it takes a business leader or a section manager, for example, to acknowledge his or her mistake, the more likely the undecided folks will turn against him or her. Business leaders need to understand that if, in the end, it is going to be disclosed that they have erred, it's better to own up as quickly as possible in order to have a hand in making repairs.
To acknowledge a mistake is to assert secure leadership; to take responsibility and prescribe a corrective course of action is wise management. Taking responsibility for an error earns the privilege of being forgiven, and thus granted a second chance.
And for CNN (@CNN), Marsha Sampson Johnson decries the slippery new term “double-down’ that politicians are using in place of “apologize.”
On a related note, pastor and author Max Lucado (@MaxLucado) writes in the article Coming Clean for Leadership Journal (@Leadership_Jnl) (from personal experience of enjoying beer too much but not admitting it) on just how honest and open confession is the right thing to do.
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