When Someone Makes A Mistake

By Alvin Mason

Today the news is full of stories of people not at their best. Many times the reaction to bad behavior and unfortunate statements is harsh, sometimes anger.

Whenever someone does not demonstrate themselves at their best, that person should own up to their mistake and apologize. Sometimes a resignation is warranted. In other situations an immediate evaluation of existing policy is needed.

For people reacting to a person’s mistake, remember we all make mistakes. There is an unwritten rule that if you ask for blood when someone makes a mistake, than when you make a mistake you have to give blood.

When evaluating a persons actions, we must look at intent. Were the culprit's actions or words willful?

When evaluating a person's actions we must ask was that person following company policy or following directions from a higher-up? If so we must focus our disatisfaction with the organization leadership.

When evaluating the words of a person, we must ask, did the words show disrepect or a total disregard for a person or people? If the intent was not to disrepect or offend, then the person might have made a mistake. We must also ask could the problem have been caused by a poor choice of words? If so, the person might have made a mistake.

Now if the words in question were from a private conversation, then our reactions will vary depending on the content of that conversation.

People should understand that anybody who talks for a living is going to occasionally say something stupid. We all make unfortunate statements but our statements usually are not public knowledge. People who talk for a living many times have to talk before they think. If any of us were in such a position we would occasionally say something we wish we could take back.

I hope that I don’t have any embarrassing statements on this website.

Remember if you ask for blood, you have to give blood, and your words will be replayed when you make a mistake.

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