As they work to fill this advanced role, they may be guided by inaccurate perceptions of what a manager should do. With time, your colleagues will be able to put the incident behind them and proceed with business as usual.New managers commonly make a number of mistakes, many of which stem from lack of training as a leader. If you made a small, surmountable mistake, be sure to put in a lot of effort and care in the weeks following the error to demonstrate your competence and value. Moving forward, you still need to work hard to restore your manager and coworkers’ confidence in you. If the gap between your skills and the skills your role requires is large enough, and you’re repeatedly making the same error, you may need to look for another position where you can truly meet the needs of the job description. You may need to look into training programs to boost your skills. It’s a bigger issue if you made the mistake because of a lack of knowledge.
If you made a careless mistake, was it because you were distracted by your cell phone or social media? If so, make sure to eliminate these distractions while at work so you don’t make a similar error in the future. Once you have a plan, turn inward and reflect. For example, you can tell your boss that you plan to enroll in an online course that will help fix any weaknesses that might have led to your error.
First time manager mistakes how to#
Let them know that you have researched how to avoid making that mistake again. Tell your manager that you messed up and understand what you did wrong, and provide a plan for how you will correct it and handle any repercussions. Next, walk around the block to clear your head and then get to work making things right. Do this quickly, as your manager will be waiting for a solution. If it is on you, take ownership of the error and immediately begin to assess what you can do about it.
If this happens, first make sure that it actually is your fault, so you don’t end up taking the blame for someone else’s slip-up. It may also be the case that you were not aware you made a mistake to begin with, and your manager or colleague confronted you with it. Hiding your mistake could lead to your termination, or at the very least, your colleagues and manager might never trust you again. Think of Watergate and Deflategate: In both instances, the cover-up was worse than the crime. Your mistake will almost always be discovered, and any attempt to conceal it will end up hurting you, your career, and your company far more than the original mistake would have.
Trying to hide the mistake or cover it up is never the right thing to do. When you’re at work, immediately after you realize you’ve made an error, take a deep breath. Whether small or large, business-related or personal, the most important thing is to own up to them and make every effort to ensure they don’t happen again. Today’s answer to the question, “How should you react after making a big mistake at work?” is written by Edward Fleischman, chairman and CEO of The Execu|Search Group. The Leadership Insiders network is an online community where the most thoughtful and influential people in business contribute answers to timely questions about careers and leadership.
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