Recovery

Everyone screws up. People, companies, non-profits, elected officials, it’s inevitable that even with the best intentions, things hit the fan. In the sports tourism and events world, challenges happen every day. It is how we deal with these speed bumps that matters. It isn’t that a mistake was made, it is how we recover from them that shows our true identity.

Nobody is perfect. Especially me. Given that I have a Ph D in making mistakes, I have a lot of experience in how to handle them. Here are a few tips for when things take a bad turn. As we always say at HUG, “Keep the good ones, toss out the bad”……..

Own it – Intelligent people know who likely caused things to go awry. So there is no use in trying to hide or blame someone else. Just stand up and take responsibility for whatever happened. Then fix it. People will respect you (or your organization) more if you take ownership and then do your best to correct the issue at hand.

Partnership – When one of your friends or teammates messes things up, step in and offer to help. Don’t point fingers. Help now, ask questions later. Play the long game.

The Home Run Question – Those that have followed the Monday Huddle Up over the years have heard this one before. One of my former bosses and mentor Rob Cohen taught me the “Home Run Question.” Basically you ask someone what would be a big win for them. Then when they answer, the follow up is the big one. You then say, “To help you hit that home run, if you were me, what you be doing right now?” That question works well when a challenging situation occurs. Ask the people that have been negatively affected, “If I’m to fix this, what would you have me do right now?” Their answer may be the end game to solve things.

Grace – This one is relatively new to me. Over the past 10-15 years or so, I’ve learned that things are going to go sideways at some point, so there is no need to fret over it. Also, there is no need to dwell on negative things, we need to spend our emotional capital on the positive things in life. So when someone screws up, step back and give them some room. Also very important, when that screw up was caused by you, give yourself some space and some personal grace. We all make mistakes.

Nobody is perfect. Mistakes happen. Step back. Show some grace. It will all work out.