July 10, 2023

Bonus Episode 63: Overcoming Professional Mistakes: Building Resilience and Strengthening Leadership Skills

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Ever made a professional mistake that kept you up at night? Trust me, we've all been there. Each day brings new challenges and mindset battles, and sometimes, we falter. But, what defines us isn't the falter, but how we recover from it. Join me as I take you through the reality of professional mistakes in this bonus episode.

Get ready to transform a bad situation into a positive one. I'll be sharing some effective steps to address and overcome professional mistakes, emphasizing on the importance of owning your errors, being upfront about them, and maintaining the highest character and integrity. I'll also share some insights on how to repair the error, learn from it and more importantly, get past it. Whether it's a company-wide high-risk blunder or a simple misreading of data, there's a way to bounce back. So, if you're looking to strengthen your mindset, improve your leadership skills and gracefully overcome professional mistakes, you can't afford to miss this episode.

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For more resources, please visit Finance Leader Academy: financeleaderacademy.com.

On the website, you can download the Become a Finance Leader Guide. You can use this guide to build your Finance Leadership skills so you can help senior leaders develop and execute the strategy.
I also offer a course, Advance Your Finance and Accounting Career: Developing a Promotion Strategy that Sets You Apart.

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Transcript

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Hi, this is Stephen McLain of the Finance Leader Podcast.

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This is Bonus Episode number 63.

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Every day for me becomes a mindset challenge.

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I know every morning when I awake I will be facing tough tasks and challenging leadership situations, but I also get to take advantage of opportunities that will pop up during my day.

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I get to positively influence my team and to positively influence everything I come into contact with.

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I know that with my words and actions I get to turn a bad day for someone into a positive day.

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That is leadership and that is why I love to lead.

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Does this also sound like how your day begins and can become?

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It often does for many of us.

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We also need to make sure we care for ourselves and for our mindset especially.

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We need to be ready to accept and overcome challenges and be ready for decisions and situations to not go our way and to have a less than ideal outcome.

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Sometimes we even make a professional mistake.

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We all have.

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What did you do once you realized you made a mistake?

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Can you reverse it?

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Now, i'm not talking about covering it up, but is there a way to minimize any damage, to reverse what you did, if you can't find someone who can help, like a tech person or an HR representative or another expert who might have a way or a process.

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Don't run from the mistake.

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Make it right again.

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Often this depends on the mistake.

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If this was an accounting mistake, then maybe reversing the entry will do it.

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Or maybe it was an analysis issue.

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Then follow it up with the right numbers and an explanation.

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Maybe you said the wrong thing.

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Realize your mistake quickly and make amends.

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Make it right with the person immediately.

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There are too many scenarios to list here, but I do believe that we can all overcome a professional mistake.

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Here are a few steps to help address and overcome a professional mistake.

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Number one realize and own your mistake.

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Don't run from your error, but for your own good being, your mindset and your character, you must own your mistake because it will be found by someone else if you don't fix it.

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You want to maintain the highest character and your integrity always.

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Number two be upfront and honest about the mistake.

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Don't fear loss of a job for the mistake.

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Reaching up a mistake is much worse because that is a character issue.

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It is difficult to overcome an issue of character because people may not trust you any longer.

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It's always better to report the mistake to those who can fix it and to anyone else who might be able to take action to overcome a potential risk issue.

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Number three find a solution to repair the error.

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Find an expert if you need to.

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This really depends on the severity of the mistake.

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Is this a company-wide high-risk mistake?

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Or was it a simple misreading of some data or wrong journal entry, or maybe something at a human level which can often be the hardest to address and take corrective action?

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If your mistake was a people issue, make a sincere gesture to repair the issue.

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This may be difficult, but put in the work to understand what happened and to repair it.

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Number four learn from your mistake to never repeat it.

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Learn and learn some more.

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Put in a process to never make the same mistake.

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You might need some training or a new process must be created.

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Number five and learn to cope with your mistake.

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Fight the urge to worry and to overthink your error.

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You need to dust yourself off and get right back to work.

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Definitely, learn from your mistake, but don't dwell.

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I know Easier said than done.

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It will consume you if you don't have a process to overcome it.

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We can overcome professional mistakes.

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I believe that Don't be hard on yourself.

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Learn from your mistake, but don't damage your mindset in the process of overcoming it.

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Be strong and forgive yourself.

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Learn and move on to the next task or situation where we are expecting you to lead from the front.

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I hope you have a great rest of your week.

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Thank you for listening to the Finance Leader Podcast.

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Please visit FinanceLeaderAcademycom for more resources And thank you for being a loyal listener.

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Take care.