Admitting what you don’t know is key to effective leadership

Being vulnerable and authentic as a leader means admitting errors instead of sweeping them aside to protect your image. But putting on a show actively discredits them.

Instead, declare the mistake as soon as possible to everyone involved. While it can be challenging, state the nature of the error succinctly and apologize if relevant. Then, spend your time finding the cause of the mistake.

Failure can be a great learning experience. The key is to make "smart" failures by fostering two conditions among the team.

1. Crean an environment of psychological safety. The team should know that smart risks that end in below-average outcomes won't hurt them. Publicly applaud the effort and focus on the learning and growth phase of the loss.
2. Leaders must conduct after-action reviews focused on learning from any major project or initiative.