How to Deal with Past Failures & Mistakes When Trying to Renew Your Career

It’s possible you’ve made a big mistake or two in your career or at your current job and you’re trying to restore your career or reputation.

If you walked out and quit in the middle of an important presentation to the CEO, got embarrassingly drunk at the holiday party, or lost your temper with a client, how do you recover and move your career forward? How do you face an uncomfortable job interview where you’re asked to explain things?

Keep the following five things in mind as you deal with repairing your career for future job interviews.

Be patient. If you’re looking for another opportunity for a promotion at your current company it might take some time for trust to be restored. It takes time for wounds to heal, even when that wound is to your career. Focus your attention on rebuilding trust by pursuing excellence on the job without trying to force others to recognize the changes you’ve made. They’ll be recognized in time.

Be honest. If you have a job interview be honest about what happened and your role in the situation. If you were going through a divorce when you walked out on the presentation to the CEO that might help explain the stress you were under. Take responsibility for the mistakes you’ve made and demonstrate that you are fully prepared to take responsibility for your actions.

Don’t minimize. As mentioned above, you need to own your decisions and recognize the seriousness of your actions without attempting to pass blame elsewhere or make excuses. Facing a difficult situation head on with honesty and without minimizing will demonstrate integrity and show that you’ve made positive changes to your life and career. 

Share what’s been learned. You can lead others through your vulnerability by sharing your experiences with others and passing on what you have learned. Perhaps you can become known as an expert in your company on dealing with workplace stress because you’ve struggled to manage stress in the past. If you’re open and vulnerable, your biggest failures can lead to greater successes if you offer that failure to others as a teaching, learning, and healing experience.

Describe strategies to avoid a repeat. Finally, be clear with yourself and others, including an interviewer, just what changes you’ve made in your life and the strategies you now employ to prevent a repeat of the actions that set you back in your job or career.

An embarrassing failure does not have to be the end of your career if you are humble enough to be patient and learn from you mistakes.

5 Rules for (First-time) Managers

You just got that promotion to manager and your team of ten staff members is looking to you for leadership and direction. Now what?

Becoming a people manager for the first time (or any time, really) can be a daunting task, and it's not a job for everyone. However, here are five rules to become an effective manager:

1. Learn everything about the job. Take time to learn all aspects of your job and the work of your employees. You'll be a better advocate for your team and be a better problem-solver when you understand every aspect of your employees tasks.

2. Listen (and Learn) from your employees. Your employees are the experts. Learn from them and make an effort to listen before jumping in with suggestions. Be know as a someone who really hears his or her employees and you'll become a successful manager.

3. Communicate effectively and often. Don't hide in your office or cubicle all day. Be visible, and communicate with your employees often in person and by email. Become a student of effective communication.

4. Admit your mistakes. You will make mistakes and your employees will notice them (and talk about them behind your back). Make an effort to own your mistakes, admit them when appropriate, and correct them. Your team will come to respect you when you can take responsibility for your errors and work to fix them.

5. Praise your employees and put them in position to succeed. People respond well to praise and encouragement and you'll want to make this a regular part of your management style. Find unique and innovation ways to praise and acknowledge good work, but don't ignore the importance of a simple thank you. In addition, put your employees in position to succeed by allowing them to utilize their strengths in their jobs.

Follow these five rules for management and you'll make the transition from first-time manager to experienced supervisor that much easier.

The 5-step Recovery Strategy for When You Make a Mistake at Work

You may have noticed that the title says "when" you make a mistake and not "if" you make a mistake. We all make mistakes, some are just more serious than others and some are just more public - I'm talking to you Lance Armstrong - than others. There will come a day when you make a workplace error, so you might as well be proactive and use this 5-step strategy to correct the mistake when it does happen.

Own up to it. We are often disappointed when we hear of people making mistakes. However, I feel the issue is made worse by first denying the issue, then later coming out and not only having to admit the mistake, but also admit to lying. Unless your error is insignificant and will have no long-lasting repercussions, tell your supervisor about the issue immediately so that it is not discovered by someone else.

Solve your own problems. When I was a manager, I always told the people who worked with me that they could come to me with any issue. However, I also told them that they were not allowed to dump their issue in my lap; they must come with a potential solution in mind. Before you go to your boss to admit your mistake, take time to research to effect of the gaffe and outline a plan to correct the mistake that includes any potential costs to your employer.

Don't point fingers. There may be others who share your responsibility for the issue at hand. You should go to them and encourage them to follow your example and admit their role in the problem. However, when you point fingers, you only make yourself look worse.

Go above and beyond to correct the mistake. If your plan for correction includes an expenditure of time, try to do it on your own time. Offer to work through lunch, stay late, or work on weekends; just don't expect to be paid extra for the time it will take to correct your mistake.

Don't dwell on the problem. Lance Armstrong admitted his mistake and apologized for what he did. However, I don't expect him to continue to apologize and castigate himself every time he opens his mouth from here on. Once you admit your mistake and take corrective actions, you must move on, forgive yourself, and ensure you have learned from your mistake so it does not happen again.