How do I reconcile a mishandled transaction?
By Caroline Mboijana More by this Author  Dear Caroline,  Recently I made a transaction that resulted in a loss for my firm. Although I take responsibility for the mistake, I do not understand how it happened and want to find out so it does not happen again. Also I do not know how to restore the faith the team had in my abilities. Please help me with a strategy. Chris  Hello Chris,  It can be overwhelming for a leader to make a mistake that negatively impacts the business. In addition to denting your confidence, I am sure you also feel that your team has lost faith in you. These thoughts are not unique to you. What is important is that you dont dwell on them. The fact that you are taking ownership of the mistake is demonstrating leadership attributes. It is also very likely that this error was a result of a process that broke down. Even more likely that more than one person handled the order. So it is very possible that collectively as a team, an error was made. As part of moving forward and rebuilding your confidence, take a moment to reflect on the error you made. Answering these three questions is essential. The answers then help you think of solutions and plans to prevent such a mistake from occurring in the future. This questioning can also help you improve your work processes making you more efficient. I suggest the reflection process is managed with your team. Its important to note that people in todays companies are savvy and observant. They are plugged into their leaders behavior and they are paying attention. For the most part, they can spot a half-truth or an attempt to deflect blame  or any variation in between. And they are even quicker to notice the signs of an untrustworthy leader when they are immersed in the vigilance of a powder keg situation that can feel as dire as a fight for their very survival. Advertisement  They know there is a tough situation brewing. They dont want you to downplay it, or protect yourself, or coddle them. They want you to lead. This group learning process then drives each member to appreciate how they contribute to team success or challenges and each team member commits to working better. Dont let one incident throw you off balance. Make sure you learn from it and ensure it never happens again. Caroline Mboijana,  Managing Director, The Leadership Team (U) cmboijana@gmail.com