Who among us is without faults . . . It’s a fact that no one denies—one of the many truths we acknowledge, and we can all agree without a doubt that they inevitably exist. . But no one admits to a mistake they’ve made, a foolish act they’ve committed, or a wrong decision they’ve taken—especially if they’re a manager and their decisions have caused their company to suffer losses or harmed the future of their employees, and the only ones who rival managers in the realm of massive mistakes and fatal follies are politicians.
The confession by a group of executives from some of the world’s largest companies caused quite a stir, at least within their own companies and among those who do business with them. For example, Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, admitted that in 1988 he purchased the “Fanny Mae” project and, because he was preoccupied with other business matters, was unable to follow up on the project, which reduced profits to just $5 million, even though the feasibility study had predicted it would generate $1.5 billion.” Buffett considers that loss and similar ones in the business world to be mistakes that one does not see at the time but discovers over time.
As for Lee Iacocca, the former CEO of Chrysler, he said: “One of my biggest professional mistakes was appointing Bob Eaton to a leadership position. It was utterly inappropriate for me to commit such folly; as Eaton was completely unsuitable for any managerial position whatsoever; his capabilities did not exceed those of a junior employee in the maintenance department.
As for the biggest mistakes of Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric—in his own words —was that he was slow to make decisions, hesitant at times, and cautious on many occasions. Despite his fear of loss and his risk-averse approach, the company did suffer losses, but they were not massive and were contained, and the company quickly returned to profitability.Raúl Vázquez, Executive Vice President of E-Commerce at Walmart, admits that when he was working at Baxter, he developed caps for liquid bottles with the help of a team, and worked day and night to achieve a good result. He did indeed produce brightly colored caps that looked sturdy, but after testing them, he was disappointed: the caps were not airtight, and the liquid leaked. Naturally, the production line was canceled.
Do we, too, have the courage to admit our mistakes and confront ourselves with them—even if only in front of a mirror?
