Yes, Virginia, business leaders can make mistakes. I’m not talking about the completely mockable faux pas like when the leaders of the auto industry came to Congress with hat in hand and refused a direct request from a congressman to fly home first class on a commercial airline. I’m talking about the small mistakes, like a poorly worded email to a customer mailing list.
Electronic communication is fast, effective and easy to do on the run. What it does not do well is convey the nuances that come across in speech or the body language that can be seen in a face-to-face encounter. Without these social cues to check our behavior, some people take license to respond in a way that they never would on the phone or in a face-to-face meeting. So what is a business leader to do when he/she accidentally instigates a flame war through a mis-understood email, tweet or blog post?
In case it is not already obvious, I am referring to a specific incident. This weekend I received an email from a Web 2.0 business owner that was meant to see how amenable his subscribers would be to adding a nominal monthly fee. The owner encouraged feedback and discourse by setting up a Google Group and including a link on the email in question. By this morning, there were several inflammatory and downright nasty responses to the original email, many of whom questioned the “company’s” intentions. To some, companies are nameless, faceless entities with ill intent. But in reality, almost all companies (90% of business in Portland have fewer than 100 employees) are run by leaders who are trying to do the right thing. But like the rest of us, these business leaders are human and will make mistakes.
We all make mistakes. It is what makes us human. Sometimes those mistakes are fortuitous an result in useful and exciting innovations, such as post-it notes or the creation of new recipes. Other times, mistakes are just mistakes. So the next time a business’ decisions or actions make you angry, try taking a moment to reflect on the humanity of the person who made the decision. Try giving him/her the benefit of the doubt unless proven otherwise. And if you are the one who made the bad call, take a deep breath and own up to your mistake. It will help us all to remember that leaders are people too.
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