Mistakes happen.
To us all.
Knowing how to fall gracefully is an art in and of itself.
As trainers, teachers and wellness providers, we have all had those times where we blundered part of our students' sessions. It may have been as innocent as forgetting where we were in our curriculum, or more serious like completely forgetting the session all together. No matter the severity, mistakes happen to us all. Daily.
Assuming these are honest mistakes, meaning that they don't lack integrity, it is possible to end up in a better place after making these mistakes, and addressing them well, rather than having never made the mistake at all.
Let’s take the more extreme of the aforementioned and say we totally forgot about a scheduled session and no-show our student/client. It's safe to assume they are going to be frustrated. In fact, they will probably be frustrated enough to vent to the next couple of people they communicate with that day.
This can be exacerbated when we blame our mistakes on something other than our own doing. In other words, not taking (full) ownership for the screw-up. While it may be easier for our ego's in the short-term, it tends to wear trust thin in the long-term.
So how do you make those proverbial: lemons into lemonade? Run down the 5's A's:
1. Awareness - This is where our brain says: "oh snap, that just happened." (in so many words). This is awareness of the problem and accepting what just happened.
2. Acknowledgement - This is where the awareness becomes acknowledgment and acceptance of our role in the issue.
3. Apologize - Don't run, don't hide, don't blame someone else, apologize.
4. Act on it - Fix it.Tell them how we will fix it and do it.
5. Apply Additional Generosity - Ask yourself: "if this had happened to me, what would I want the other person to do, aside from apologizing?"
Now, imagine if you applied these 5 A’s to our handling of the aforementioned situation. We are then not only able to take the power back in the situation and write the next chapter, but we are also able to change the narrative. The client may still tell the story about our initial mistake but now with the additional mention of how well we had handled it. So what we have done is taken the negative energy from the situation, used it as an example of how well we work amidst adversity, and ultimately used it to help propel our businesses forward.
In most cases, reasonable people will forgive everything but malicious intent.