Taking The Beats

One of my best buds
presented incorrect figures.
They weren’t her numbers
but because she presented them,
she is taking responsibility for the mistake.

It’s called
taking the beats for the team
and the higher up in the organization
you climb,
the more you’ll do it.

There is no avoiding mistakes
(especially if you’re trying to do
something world changing).
The key is to learn
how to best communicate these mistakes.

You always use ‘we.’
You never finger point or call people out.
You clearly outline the mistake,
you share what the impact is,
and then you say
‘this will never happen again because
we now have this and this in place
to prevent it.’

This is done as quickly as possible
because the last thing you want
is to have to manage the ripple effect
(i.e. your CEO relaying the incorrect information
to shareholders or the media
and looking like a complete jackass).