Owning the "Oops"

The Colorado Rockies are the worst team in the National League West division and sit 14 games out of first place. Last night, they chose to honor one of their better players, Troy Tulowitzki by giving away 15,000 jerseys with his name on the back. Sadly, the team misspelled his name on the jerseys that the fans received. That means that someone didn't do a quality check to make sure things were printed correctly before the big day. This also means that someone didn't know how to spell the last name of the best player on the Rockies either. It's an embarrassment for the organization and a tough day for a few employees in particular.

While this is a big mistake that is garnering national attention, it is also a big moment for the Rockies leadership. They could have chosen to cast the blame on one employee, fire them, and try to move on. They instead have modeled good leadership by owning up to the mistake and offering a new jersey in the future with the correct spelling. A true leader is willing to admit when they make a mistake without casting blame and then works to make the situation right. This is true of leaders in organizations as well as family leaders. Our willingness to own up to errors and work to correct them inspires loyalty and sets an example for others to follow.

It's inevitable that we will make mistakes, but we determine our reputation and legacy by how we respond to them.