Regaining Your Trust
Fight, Not Flight (face the difficult situation) - Instead of hiding from the tension created yesterday, I will apologize for my insensitive and cuss-filled (and unprofessional) copy. My maw and paw taught me better (and FWIW, Lou, you were right).
Recruit Others into Battle (enlist the right assistance) - Hopefully, I've built enough community credibility to leverage support from those of you who know that yesterday was very out of character for me.
Rebuild Heroic Stature (spread the true nature of the adversity) - It's simply not a good idea to work, while a wee bit weary, at three in the morning, after having a long and intense conversation with a friend.
Prove Your Mettle (regain trust and credibility) - As yet to be determined.
Rediscover the Heroic Mission (clear the past and chart the future) - Again, as yet to be determined.
These are the five steps Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Andrew Ward lay out for overcoming mistakes in their book Firing Back. Who better to focus on than myself?
What's even worse, since the very beginning of ibw, I've paid attention to exactly who sits on the other side of these words. I know that there are many regular visitors to this site who are engaged in passionate religious discussion. I also know that a great many of you are trying to run companies - trying to maintain a professional and admirable work environment. Did I really think you wanted to open up a cuss-laden review? Well no, I didn't. I didn't think at all. My father would be a millionaire if he had a dollar every time he had to ask, "Why don't you think," or "What were you thinking?"
There's a difference between pushing boundaries and being stupid. I guess I'll leave it at that.
Hopefully I can learn from the stories of Apple, GE, Staples, and Morgan Stanley. Those are some of the companies these authors give first-hand accounts of - their drastic pitfalls and how they recovered. Firing Back also has some great analysis on how to avoid extremely common barriers that business people often fall prey to. We are, after all, human. We all make mistakes, some bigger than others, but mistakes are mistakes. Overcoming them is all we can do. This book helps.
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