Today was a rough day. Made a major mistake, called out by the boss in the team meeting. As a rising tech exec, always been a top performer, but recognition for hard work has been limited.
While your leadership team acknowledges your efforts, your peers remain silent. However, you observe a subtle smirk on their faces when news of the mistake reaches them. Moreover, you overhear a conversation where two peers seem to revel in the error. Why might they exhibit this unexpected behavior? Remember, we are all fallible humans, prone to making mistakes. It’s an inevitable part of the human experience, even for our peers.
Jealousy is a common but unfortunate human trait that often manifests itself in unfavorable ways. Finding effective methods to navigate and address these situations can be challenging. How would you handle such a scenario?
- Keep in mind, you are a top performer, and you always treat work with the highest professionalism. Don’t let one incident tear you down. Be a better person and ignore the digs from your peers, don’t let it anger you.
- Talk to your boss about having a better way to communicate issues when they occur. Sure, the team needs to know because it impacts them. But pointing out that you were at fault in such a public forum probably could have been handled better.
- Demonstrate to your peers how to behave when one of your fellow teammates has a similar issue. Take the person aside and be empathetic. Let them know that they are human and it’s okay to make a mistake. Ask if you can help them.
Be a better person than those who revel in the pain of others.
As an emerging leader, your display of empathy will undoubtedly be noticed by those in leadership positions. However, it is imperative to acknowledge your misstep and learn from it, ensuring that such a mistake is not repeated in the future.