We’ve all been
there. We’ve all done that. We were either the victim or one of the
perpetrators.
You know the
scene. Nice restaurant, nice table…colleagues hungrily bonding at a business
lunch. Fade to the group going suddenly
silent when someone, especially the boss, unknowingly has a dribble of
mayonnaise on the corner of his mouth or spinach clinging to her front tooth.
If someone
doesn’t say something quickly the table goes strangely numb. Eyes dart around,
then sheepishly down. Of course the conversation continues with everyone
staring at the malady wishing it would disappear or that the person would
finally wipe it away with an unknowing swish.
Well, that
happened to me the other day. But it had nothing to do with mayonnaise or spinach.
It was an errant typo or rather lack of appropriate editing that was pasted to
the corner of my mouth hanging there for days.
A few blogs ago,
I wrote a column called "Are You Being Managed or Led.” At least that is the way it
was supposed to have read. Unfortunately, my life was a tad busy at the time
and I was sloppy with my attention to detail. No excuse.
Not only did the
headline read “Are You Managed or Lead,”
but also the spelling/usage error repeated itself two other times in the body
copy. Terrible times three.
What’s worse is
that I didn’t catch it even after spell checks and numerous reads. Once noted,
however, I rationalized that I look at the words lead, led, leadership in so
many ways so often during the day that my brain just short-circuited.
But enough of
the beating. It’s certainly not the end of the world or the financial industry.
What I really
want to do is thank reader Dan Croy who noted the error on this blog and thank goodness took the time to comment (without sarcasm, thanks Dan).
My colleague Lisa Shannon was quick to correct the error. I rushed to my own Leader Inside Out
Blog and hurriedly erased the embarrassment.
I have been
writing in one form or another for most of my career. That was not my first
error and I would be even more foolish to think it is the last. Just ask my
editor. But Dan was able to wake me up to the fact that I had allowed life’s
noise to get in the way. It was a leadership moment. I could brush the error
aside with a sly snicker or laugh, and learn from it.
How about
you? Do you have mayonnaise on the
corner of your career or spinach dangling from an unfinished goal you set long
ago? It’s time to acknowledge it and wipe it away with action. It’s your
leadership moment. Make the choice.
Robert H.
Thompson is a Leadership Challenge Master Facilitator and the author of The Offsite: A
Leadership Challenge Fable. You may reach him and subscribe to his
newsletter at www.leaderinsideout.com.
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