Companies are made up of people, and people make mistakes. Even market-leader darlings
like Netflix – and most recently, Apple – have problems that come up.
When things do go wrong – and they always do, eventually – great companies handle challenging times with a proven formula. Here are the basics:
Publicly acknowledge problems and mistakes. Don’t sweep them under the rug and pretend they don’t exist. Employees and customers will see the problems and think you’re an idiot for not noticing and saying so.
Be specific about what the issues are. Define and describe what’s gone wrong. That will require that you know what’s gone wrong, and that you communicate that in a sincere and timely manner.
Be clear about what you’re going to do about the problem. Tell people what you’re doing to fix the problem. That communicates to them that you understand, and tells them what they can expect from you.
Finally, confirm your values and how those values will drive you to do better. You’re not satisfied and understand that it must change, you must improve performance.
Taking a moment to recognize a mistake will go far in securing the trust and admiration of your staff and customers. Take caution, though: you must be genuine in your remarks, and you can’t do this often. Yes, you’re allowed mistakes if you handle them properly, but you don’t get to repeatedly make the same ones.
To err is human. And to admit it, learn from it, and correct it, is divine.
photo credit: CarbonNYC via photopin cc
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