Maturity Comes from Handling Mistakes

Jake Peters had been an intern at Uline. He's now a Vice President at the same company. In orienting new interns at Uline, when asked the difference, he replies: "The difference between being an intern and an employee is that you're here long enough to experience and to have to fix your own mistakes."

Accountability and living and learning from one's mistakes are both parts of maturity and professional growth. Often interns and new people are into impressing others instead of making a lasting difference. They can fall into the trap of covering errors instead of confronting them.

We respect leaders and professionals who can admit their own errors quickly, fix the problem and learn new strategies to ensure better results in the future. Keep everyone focused on why they are there--making a difference for clients and the organization. Sometimes that means managing error on the way to excellence. Little problems left unattended can become big problems down the line. By keeping everyone committed to making a strategic difference, good leaders encourage everyone to confront mistakes and problems as early as possible.

Are your people problem solvers or problem evaders? Get busy now prompting for opportunities to make needed course corrections by asking, "Are you aware of any red flags that require our attention?"

(Source: Jake Peters conversation, April 13, 2006 at Uline event presentation)

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[James Shewmaker]

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