I'm currently trying to hire for two positions and this is a classic interview question. And I confess that it always stumps me. But not because I think myself perfect -- far from it. It's just that I don't frame my life and recollections around mistakes. Mistakes are just life, and and life goes on. I'm annoyingly positive, so I don't label events as Mistakes to be recalled on demand. Many, many years ago when I was still young in my career an interviewer asked me this question and I couldn't come up with a mistake....ouch. That made me look completely self-unaware. Last night at the African American networking event, one of our top black leaders was talking about this subject, which is how I'm now thinking about it again. Surely I've made mistakes...OK, let's make a list. Um...
I don't even think of my 10-year marriage as a mistake, even though I could clearly have done without the immeasurable and long-lasting pain it led to. But did I learn anything from it? Sure. Like you never really know people. And that you should never merge your money with your spouse's (didn't have to learn that the hard way, thank God). But work mistakes? Hhhmmm.... harder. I'd like to say something like I once purchased 10,000 ping pong balls when I thought I was ordering 100. Or even that I made a small math error which led to an EPA pollution non-compliance. No, my "mistakes" have been more in the people realm as I matured as a leader.
For one, I made the mistake of thinking everyone on teams contributes to the team's work. I learned that teamwork is often very unbalanced and you have to manage that. Some people are assigned to the team, not by choice. Some just have less to offer. Some can even be passive-aggressive and not want the team to succeed. There are many reasons why leading a team is really about leading every individual on the team, not the collective.
Another early career mistake was not "suffering fools gladly." A supervisor whom I respected a great deal told me that. I didn't know what he meant at the time, but I saw it affecting work relationships. As I came to understand it, I was able to develop more emotional intelligence about the "fools". The supervisor who brought it to my attention did me a favor.
You know, I've learned so much from my mistakes, I think I'll make a few more. :)
I don't even think of my 10-year marriage as a mistake, even though I could clearly have done without the immeasurable and long-lasting pain it led to. But did I learn anything from it? Sure. Like you never really know people. And that you should never merge your money with your spouse's (didn't have to learn that the hard way, thank God). But work mistakes? Hhhmmm.... harder. I'd like to say something like I once purchased 10,000 ping pong balls when I thought I was ordering 100. Or even that I made a small math error which led to an EPA pollution non-compliance. No, my "mistakes" have been more in the people realm as I matured as a leader.
For one, I made the mistake of thinking everyone on teams contributes to the team's work. I learned that teamwork is often very unbalanced and you have to manage that. Some people are assigned to the team, not by choice. Some just have less to offer. Some can even be passive-aggressive and not want the team to succeed. There are many reasons why leading a team is really about leading every individual on the team, not the collective.
Another early career mistake was not "suffering fools gladly." A supervisor whom I respected a great deal told me that. I didn't know what he meant at the time, but I saw it affecting work relationships. As I came to understand it, I was able to develop more emotional intelligence about the "fools". The supervisor who brought it to my attention did me a favor.
You know, I've learned so much from my mistakes, I think I'll make a few more. :)