We pay when we make a mistake – that’s just life.
Sometimes the mistake is a small one – like shaving an eyebrow, or a bad haircut. 😬
Sometimes it’s a big one – like getting a tattoo on a particularly inebriated evening. 😮
But who pays when leaders make mistakes?
The other day, I was speaking to a project manager who had to turn her camera off mid-call to be sick in a bucket. 😔
That’s how stressed she was.
The company had undersold a fixed-price project with fuzzy scope, and she was tasked with the impossible – making sure it didn’t overrun.
This isn’t a mistake.
A mistake is something you accidentally do that you probably won’t do again.
When you repeat the same harmful pattern over and over, you’ve stopped making mistakes – you’re just not caring about the outcomes.
The thing is consulting partners have a reputation for burning out their people, and that reputation is well-deserved.
Those of my peers who started with me 30 years ago are no longer in the game. They left – many with #MentalHealth issues – suffering from panic attacks, depression, and trauma that takes years to heal.
I spoke to a CEO of a small outfit who did something different.
They estimated properly, put forth a sustainable proposal, and didn’t get the deal. 😕
They had to shrink the team, which was painful.
But that CEO could sleep at night.
And the team became even more loyal because they understood the values their leader stood by.
As leaders, we hold people’s happiness and livelihoods in our hands. Our mistakes don’t just cost us money or peace of mind, they cost our people their health, their wellbeing, their lives.
We will all make mistakes.
But we must not keep making the same ones, especially when others pay the price.
What values do you fight for as a leader?
We all deserve careers that bring us joy, challenge us, and allow us to do work we can be proud of.