I Make Mistakes ALL the Time!

Today’s world is evolving so fast, targets and KPI’s are a constant trend in managing performance. While I am totally for targets, dealing with mistakes with your work, can result in not hitting target, resulting in added stress and anxiety to your work. However, managing your expectations around this, can change your outlook and performance.

I’ve always lived by the rule that you will make mistakes, but it’s the rise from fall which defines you and the fact you even care or try, means you’re already winning. (Chumbawamba – Tubthumping- I get knocked down) always comes into my head when I talk about this. If you do not know what I am talking about, just google it and you’ll know)

I want to openly share with you some of the mistakes (to date!) I have made in my career.

It was a few years back; my desk was busy. I submitted a shortlist of job seekers to the hiring manager, who wanted to interview people the following day. With my ‘to do list’ getting bigger as the day went on, I arranged the interviews and sent confirmations. The next day, the line manager called me and was disappointed. The interviewees did not have any clue what her business did and did not answer her questions to her satisfaction. They then chose another job seeker, independently.

In a perfect scenario I would have had the time to call each job seeker and prepped them on what I knew about the business and the role, what questions may be asked and what’s the best way to answer. It was a very big lesson learnt. Failing to prepare means you are preparing to fail.

Ever been in that horrifying position where you are sending an email to a top customer or multiple people and realising you have misspelled something or sent it to the wrong person. Double check and check again. Mistakes will occur from time to time but take the time to take a step back and check again.

If someone tells you, they have always exceeded targets/KPI’s, they are most probably lying. In fact, I would go so far to say they are lying. I will openly admit that I have not hit targets, and I use to get so disappointed. What use is that? It used to worry me to the extent, that it affected my sleep. What a waste of time and nervous energy.

First thing to think about is that it is ok! Take a step back and evaluate. This step is not to see why you’re not good at what you’re doing but to find out how you can make sure moving forward you are closer to your target, or even better, smash it out the park. Assess where the gaps were and put a process in place to make sure that next time, you are undertaking what you identified for improvement. You may not hit target the next month or even the next quarter but if you can show that you are doing the right activity, it’s inevitable that you will reach your goals.

Secondly is keep trying! Do not give up. Remember why you are doing what you are doing, for that sweet result which may seem so far away, little steps will get you closer to your goal. I am thankful for the mistakes I have made professionally and personally because it has made me the person I am today. I have always found that every problem has a solution. If you are always right how can you grow and learn? Mistakes should be a great learning experience and before you succeed you must learn to fail. If you make a mistake it is your fault, but please do not take it personally. It is a learning curve to guide you to victory!