Quick thought: Until they see you do it, they won't.
The Film Room
We've all seen blown calls at a sports game. Some of us - I'm looking at you Saints fans from the playoffs or Steelers/Lions coin flip - have seen egregious calls that cost games (or in the Saints' case, a shot at the Super Bowl).
Typically, it's chalked up to "human error," and the ref never has to apologize. Everyone in the stadium knows its a mistake. Replay shows a mistake. But I don't know if I've ever seen a ref apologize for messing up a call.
Until now.
(Click below to watch the video on X. Warning: NSFW language)
Two weeks ago, NBA referee Jenna Schroeder ejected Philadelphia player Andre Drummond for... nothing. Literally, Drummond didn't do anything.
But Schroeder, who saw San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama hit the floor hard, gave Drummond a technical believing he had had knocked down "Wemby."
Drummond, naturally upset, was then given a second technical for arguing the call and sent home for the day.
That is, until Schroeder saw her mistake on replay.
In a rare move, the referee owned her mistake, voided the technicals, and the game continued on.
Too often leaders dismiss their mistakes as "it's passed now, so what," instead of owning it.
Yet those same leaders want their teams to stop pointing the finger and just own a mistake. It can't work this way.
Teams follow their leader's behavior - the standard we hold ourselves to becomes the benchmark for everyone else.
The Practice Field
It can be quite unsettling to have to own a mistake.
I still remember getting busted for lying in elementary school once by my own mother (a teacher across the hall). I had to fess up and the feeling absolutely sucked.
It's no different if we fumble it in front of our teams - or even worse, we make a decision that doesn't work and instead of owning it, simply point the finger at everything else.
No one loves being the reason a mistake happened - but as leaders, we have to set the standard for our teams by owning it.
Every mistake - not just the ones that we 100% are at fault for.
Even if the ones we are only at 10% fault for.
Not only does this vulnerability to admit error give our team the psychological safety to do the same, it creates a better environment to where you as the leader can be trusted to not throw others under the bus when things go wrong. In fact, simply the habit of owning mistakes will help you with your team by:
- Building trust & credibility
- Set a standard for accountability (no one is above it)
- Leverage mistakes as learning opportunities (especially when paired with ‘what I learned & will do different next time’)
- Strengthen loyalty (research shows teams are more likely to rally around leaders who take responsibility for mistakes and show humility).
It's not fun to make a mistake (and much less own it), but as a leader, it's a crucial choice that is essential to being a great leader.
I'm cheering for you to impact others today, Reader,
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This Week on the Podcast​
Yesterday​
5 Tools I Use That All Leaders Should Consider in 2025
Wednesday​
How Kara Mobly Balances a Full-Time Sales Career as a Competitive Athlete
Friday​
What Does Your Competition Say About You?
Fun Adventures on the Road
My wife (and team) tell me I should share more of the adventures I take while traveling so I thought I'd mix them in every now and then here. The joke is when I go to a new city, I'm always looking for 4 things:
- The best donut shop
- The best steak
- The best craft beer
- The best thing to do local to that city.
It helps me make new memories with each speaking engagement and honestly, it's way better than sitting alone in a hotel room watching TV.
By the time you read this, I'm on a flight back to Texas from my first speaking engagement of the year in Sheboygan, Wisconsin (shoutout to Dustin and his team for the invite!).
Not only did I get to kick off his team's annual event with a message on competitive mindset and accountability (from a team and leader perspective)...
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But Kait, who runs the Compete Every Day IG account and does a lot of my behind-the-scenes content, and I went to our very first Packers home game at Lambeau!
When I found out it was her #1 bucket list item to see a game at Lambeau AND we finalized the speaking event, I wanted to make it happen. So we flew up Saturday and drove up to Green Bay Sunday for the game.
I started last year by speaking to the Dallas Cowboys sales team and kicked off this year seeing the Packers in Lambeau and speaking with an amazing insurance team on accountability.
Next up: Lafayette, Louisiana and Vegas!
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