Mistakes to Avoid

What kind of mistakes should a leader avoid?

There are all kinds of mistakes that you can benefit from, as well as an endless number of mistakes that could put you out of business.

But one kind of mistake is easily avoided: the mistake you've already made.

Seriously, mistakes can be valuable learning lessons -- but only if we learn. If we do not learn from our mistakes we most likely get more opportunities in the form of mistakes until we do.

Making mistakes once is no guarantee against repeating them. It takes learning and change to avoid the obvious.

Think about a mistake that you've only made once and were able to improve your performance as a result. What did you do differently? How did you leverage your mistake into a new opportunity?

What mistakes can you avoid today?

-- Douglas Brent Smith