Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of performance through strong human relations, team building, and goalajiving. This is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host Paul Fellovaledo.
Hello everyone, and welcome to the seven Minute Leadership Podcast. It's episode six seventy three. I want to give you something today that sounds almost too simple to matter. One sentence, one habit, one line that if you use it the right way and use it often, will change your leadership faster than another training, another book, or another meeting. Here it is I was wrong. That's it. Three words that most leaders avoid, delay or replace with corporate buzzwords that
nobody believes. Let me tell you why this matters, because leadership is not built on perfection. It's built on credibility, and credibility is built in moments where people are watching you closely, especially when something goes sideways. Think about your last mistake. Did you explain it away, did you soften it? Did you blame the system, the timing, the team, the budget. Did you dress it up so it didn't sound like a mistake, or did you say clearly and directly, I
was wrong. Most leaders don't say it enough. Some never say it at all, and their team knows it. Here's what happens when you avoid those three words. Your team starts to protect themselves instead of doing their best work. They stop bringing you problems early because they assume you will defend your position instead of listening. They start managing around you instead of through you. And that is how trust erods, not in one big moment, in one hundred
small moments where the leader chose ego over ownership. Now, let's flip it. Picture a leader who says I was wrong. No excuses, no long explanation, no defensive tone, just ownership. What does that do It lowers the temperature in the room immediately. It tells your team that accountability is real, not something you only expect from them. It creates space for honest conversation instead of guarded communication. And here's the part most leaders miss. When you say I was wrong,
you don't lose authority. You gain it because authority is not about always being right, it's about being trusted when it matters. Let's talk about frequency. This is not a once a year's statement. This is not something you pull out during a major failure to save face. Great leaders say this often, not because they're reckless or careless because they're paying attention. They review their decisions, they reflect on outcomes.
They listen when someone on their team challenges an idea, and when they see a miss they call it out themselves. That's discipline, that's leadership. You want to know one of the fastest ways to build a culture of accountability model it in real time. You can stand in front of your team and talk about accountability all day long. You can write policies, you can enforce standards. None of that will matter if your team never sees you own your own mistakes, because culture is not what you say, it
is what you demonstrate. Now let's go deeper. There are levels to this. Level one is saying I was wrong. Level two is saying I was wrong, and here is what I learned. Level three is saying I was wrong, here's what I learned, and here is what we're going to do differently. That's where transformation has happens, because now you're not only owning the mistake, you're turning it into a forward move. You're showing your team how to process failure without hiding from it. Let me give you a
real world application. You roll out a new process it doesn't work, your team struggle with struggles with it. Productivity drops, frustration goes up. And you have two choices. You can double down and defend the decision. You can say the team needs more time, more effort, more discipline. Or you can walk in and say I was wrong about how we implemented this. We're going to adjust. Which leader do you want to follow? Here? Which leader are people going
to give their best effort to? It's not even close. Here's another angle. When you say I was wrong, you give your team permission to do the same. And that's powerful because now mistakes come to the surface faster, problems get solved earlier, conversation get more honest. You eliminate the fear that keeps teams stuck. You replace it with the responsibility. Now let's address the pushback. Some leaders think saying I was wrong makes them look weak, and that is outdated thinking.
Week leaders hide, strong leaders own week leaders protect their image. Strong leaders protect the mission, and your team can tell the difference every single time. And here's something else to think about. If you're not saying I was wrong on a regular basis, one of two things is happening. Either you are not paying attention to your own decisions, or you're not being honest about them. Neither one is acceptable in leadership. You're going to get things wrong. This is
part of the job. The question is not if. The question is what you do next. Now, I want to give you a challenge for the next seven days. I want you to listen to yourself. Listen to how you respond when something doesn't go as planned. Do you explain, do you deflect, do you minimize or do you own it? And when you see the opportunity take it, say the words I was wrong, Keep it clean, keep it direct, no extra noise around it. Then follow it with what
you learned and what you're going to change. If you do this consistently, something interesting will happen. Your team will start to trust you faster, Your conversations will get sharper, your decisions will improve because you're no longer trying to protect them. You're trying to get them right, and that is a completely different mindset. This is one of those leadership moves that cost you nothing and gives you everything.
No budget required, no approval needed, no rollout plan, just discipline and one honesty and the willingness to put your ego in the back seat so your leadership can move forward. So here is your takeaway. The one thing every great leader says often is not a slogan, it's not a speech, it's not something you print on a wall. It is three simple words, I was wrong. Say it when it matters, say it when it's uncomfortable, Say it before someone else has to say it for you, because the moment you
own it is the moment your leadership gets stronger. This has been the seven Minute Leadership Podcast, and I thank you for listening.
For more, Paul Fell of Alito Podcasts, visit paulfellowalito dot com.