There are so many ways to say we made a MISTAKE: Botched, Bungled, Flubbed, Mishandled, Bumbled, Misjudged, Mucked-up, Fouled-up, Messed-up, Slipped-up, Goofed-up and Screwed-Up … which all say, in simple terms, that an error has been made.

As a LEADER, before you get upset at someone for SCREWING-UP, try and remember they didn’t do it on purpose. Answer the questions below to help remind yourself how YOU have occasionally messed-up in your career.

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Sometimes a simple reminder to ourselves about our past failings will allow us to be a little more tolerant of those who error. Here are a few things we should remember about MISTAKES:

They are the portal to discovery
Success is built on a series of mistakes
Great lessons come from the worst mistakes
They should guide you not define you
They are meant for learning – not repeating
Forget the mistake and remember the lesson
They are just another step towards success
They show you are trying
Expect, inspect and correct them
Experience comes from mistakes

Leadership is all about helping people perform better; MISTAKES are just part of the process.

I’ve heard it said many times that the only people who don’t make a mistake are the people who do nothing. What I find interesting and motivating about a mistake is the evolution in how they are classified. They first start out being called a mistake … that mistake then turns into a lesson, then we call it experience and finally it is looked upon as a gift that helped us succeed. So, the wonderful thing about making a mistake is it enhances our ability to succeed “IF” we will learn from it.

Therefore, the only REAL MISTAKE is the one from which we learn nothing.