No matter how much we strive for perfection, and no matter how effective we are as leaders, we make mistakes. It doesn’t feel good, but we are human! That’s important to remember and so is the ability to own up to and learn from our errors.
Dr. Travis Bradberry shared that emotionally intelligent people embrace mistakes for what they are—great opportunities to learn, and he also shared there are 10 common mistakes to learn from. They are:
- Believing in someone or something that’s too good to be true. Some people are so charismatic and so confident that it can be tempting to follow anything they say. Don’t be naïve!
- Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Albert Einstein said that insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. If you want a different result, you must change your approach.
- Failing to delay gratification. Gratification doesn’t come quickly and hard work comes long before the reward.
- Operating without a budget. Budgets, both professionally and personally, establish discipline, and discipline is the foundation of quality work.
- Losing sight of the big picture. Assess your daily priorities against your goals; are they aligned?
- Not doing your homework. There’s no substitute for hard work and due diligence.
- Trying to be someone you’re not. Happiness and success demand authenticity.
- Trying to please everyone. It’s not possible to please everybody, and trying to please everyone pleases no one.
- Playing the victim. To play the victim, you have to give up your power, and you can’t put a price on that.
- Trying to change someone. The only way that people change is through the desire and wherewithal to change themselves.
Take a few minutes to digest these and see if there are any that require more focus and also share with others if you feel they could benefit from them.
