So Miss Colombia won the Miss Universe title, the other day. No, wait, it was Miss Philippines and Steve Harvey messed up. As far as messing up goes, this one pretty much took the cake and the baker. And the entire bakery with it. For one, it was the most widely watched event. It was a live broadcast so there was no chance of cuts and retakes, and okay let’s do that surprised act again, and this time with more feeling.
Yes, the surprise was real for Miss Philippines and the disappointment for Miss Colombia unimaginable. And for Steve Harvey, what was a very real, ‘human’ error, it was magnified a million times over because it was live broadcast around the globe to an audience of millions.
As Miss Philippines was crowned and Miss Colombia divested of the crown, the bouquet and sash, a tweet on my Twitter TL stuck in my head. “Steve Harvey will never get an emcee-ing job again.”
That stuck in my head. We’ve all made mistakes at work. Big mistakes, small mistakes, medium mistakes. Some, like Nick Leeson have gone on to sink banks with the mistakes they’ve made. Some of us have made smaller mistakes that have impacted no one except our own appraisal sheets. But sometimes, the difference between us emerging from the mistake we have made and the effect it has on our career is all about how we’ve handled the situation.
Here, then, are five tips on what you can do to minimise the fallout from whatever goof-up you’ve committed.
1. Own up: Steve Harvey did this wonderfully, he went out there on stage, publicly stated that he had goofed up and made an error while reading out the card. He took complete responsibility of the situation and apologised to both women for his mistake as well as the viewers. He also took to Twitter later and reiterated his apology.
2. Be public about the fact that you’ve goofed up: If you try to hide it, keep the mess-up hidden from your superiors and they find out from another source (probably your professional rival) you aren’t going to look very good, or reliable. And it will also set them thinking as to how many other instances you have hidden from them in the past, even if your past track record is driven snow.
3. Try to resolve the situation that has been created because of the mess-up: Do what is required to iron out things and put things back on track even if it means working long hours or going out of your way to get things done. Bringing a solution to the table underlines that you are taking responsibility for the problem you have wittingly or unwittingly created, and that you are trying to do your best to contain or reverse the damage arising from the situation.
4. Forgive yourself: You cannot expect forgiveness from others if you don’t sincerely forgive yourself. You need to accept that you are human and that you have messed up. You need to cut yourself some slack and admit that while it was not the best thing to happen, it has, and you need to move on from the deep, dark place that self loathing and guilt brings with it. Give yourself permission to move on from that place. Learn your lessons, and move on.
5. Start rebuilding trust amongst your workmates and your superiors: Have a conversation with your boss where you accept that you have made a major mistake, but that you realise you have created a situation that could be problematic for the company. Assure your boss that you will never repeat it, and you will do all you can to resolve the issues arising from the mistake you’ve committed.
Of course, if you have done something that is a mistake that crosses over from a blunder to one that is an offence you can be fired for, and these rules don’t apply. If that’s the case, all we can say is leave graciously, and spit polish that CV for sending around. And know that you will get through this too, as long as you have the inclination to learn from your mistakes and own up to them.
