Not Admitting Your Mistakes

We all make mistakes, and we all know that others do so. To err is human. This is the first lesson one has to understand. When someone makes a mistake, the ego can prevent him from admitting that. He even tries to convince himself that it is not a mistake, and this is done through trying to tell himself that what he did is just another way of doing his job or a “newly invented” way that he has found. This is how egoist mistake makers view it most of the time.

You cannot set up new rules at this early time of your work experience. Instead, follow the already established ones. You have to abide by the rules already made by the colleagues who have been there before you joined the company.

You should recognize the fact that a group of people meet regularly in a place, they create their own culture. When people work in a company, they create a culture for that location. That is to say, they subconsciously create some hidden rules (See chapter Ignoring the Unwritten Rules).

When you do something which does not fall under the umbrella of what they do, be it in terms of work or something else, you are off side, and you need to remember that the reference is not the rules set up at your home by your parents.

The road map is not that of the company you worked in before neither. Admit that you are violating the rules first, before you move to understand the mechanisms. By doing so, you are fighting your strongest enemy that can revive itself at any time in your life and that is never dead permanently, your EGO.

The second step is to confess that you made a mistake. Others should hear your ‘SORRY’ immediately. This is not a demonstration of weakness, but it shows to what extent you can control and correct yourself in hard times, especially when a customer is present.

When you say: “I am sorry. It is my mistake and I did it before. I apologize”, just be one hundred per cent sure that you will become more respected and people will become eager to teach you more and to work more with you now and in the future, unlike those who do not apologize and defend their mistakes picturing themselves the following way:

• Disrespectful,
• Egoist,
• Defensive,
• Unable to control themselves in front of customers,
• Cannot handle themselves well,
• Cannot act accurately in hard situations,
• Cannot work under pressure,
• Immature,
• Will not learn much,
• Unable to support the stress of the job.

And other depictions that are all against the trainee’s development in the company.

The third thing to do when you make a mistake is to know WHY you made it. You have to know what made you act that way. It is important to analyze the process you followed to deviate from the path, so that you never make it again. Here, there are two situations to take into consideration:

The first one is when you deal with a customer. You make a mistake. You admit it. You know why you made it. Then you need to let the customer hear from you that you will never make it again. You need to guarantee that and to absolutely stop making that mistake.

The second situation is with your colleagues. You need to, absolutely, let them know that you will never make it again, and you need to show them that you are changing the process you followed before you made it. They should see you doing something to make positive changes, and this can be done in one of the following ways:

• Checking all your notes again,
• Verifying the procedures with your superiors,
• Asking for more guidance and more training.

There is always a correct way to do something. If you have done it wrongly, just ask your instructor about how it should be done accurately. Get help from him to learn better and ask him to either do the job the right way in front of you or watch someone else, maybe another trainee, doing it. Who knows from whom we can learn!

When you make a mistake while dealing with a customer, there where lays the very problem. When making a mistake, you just need to go through all the processes above. If the scenario takes place with a customer, you need to tell them a sentence, which I personally use: “I am sorry, it is my mistake and you are right. I apologize and I guarantee it will never happen again”.

You do not need to swear. You should not act like a victim. You need to act professionally. Start by absorbing the entire customer’s anger. Let them speak and say whatever they want. Never take it personally, and remember that when emotions super-dominate someone, it is there when you can control their mind.