Apologize When You Screw Up

When serving as an executive leader of a large research university, I had ample opportunities to apologize and was the recipient of emails at times critical of the services my department provided. An email from a member of the faculty whose daughter was starting college in the fall said that she received a letter on my organization’s letterhead from the campus computer store offering discounts on laptops: “I went online to check the price differences and found they ranged in savings from $0 to $5 on a $1,000 laptop computer. In my mind, this advertisement is at least disingenuous if not fraudulent. I wanted to bring this to your attention.”

Of course, I was not aware that the campus computer store had sent these letters to all incoming freshmen on my organization’s letterhead. The store was managed by a third-party vendor under contract, and the content of the letter had been approved many years ago prior by my predecessor’s predecessor. My apology email to the mother thanked her for bringing this unfortunate incident to my attention, took responsibility for the miscue, explained the new steps that would keep it from happening again, and asked for forgiveness.

The key was to follow up on that promise of the incident not happening again. I took action to ensure that the store did not continue this practice. Franklin Covey says, “Sincere apologies make deposits; repeated apologies interpreted as insincere make withdrawals.”

Mistakes will happen. Be ready to accept responsibility, and practice the art of apology.

It is important to establish a protocol when things go wrong:

• Identify the root cause(s) of the problem.
• Alert the relevant parties.
• Apologize by expressing regret, accepting responsibility, describing what is being done to address the problem.
• Create a plan to avoid the problem in the future, genuinely repent, and request forgiveness.
• Thank everyone for their patience and goodwill.

Remember to keep your sense of humor in even the most trying ordeals. Be sure to acknowledge, celebrate, and reward examples of true grit in your organization. Things will go wrong. How we deal with these inevitable situations is key.