Don’t Be Afraid of Mistakes

Making mistakes at work could seem like a recipe for career disaster, but many successful people make mistakes often but go on to improve their professional prospects anyway.

While you want to avoid careless errors that suggest you aren’t paying attention to detail, mistakes are typically not something that you should fear. There are plenty of reasons why you shouldn’t be afraid of the occasional error in the workplace:

• Mistakes give you a chance to learn and improve. When you make a mistake, you can identify what you did wrong and find ways to do it better next time. You can deepen your knowledge, find weaknesses to work on and turn the negative into a positive as you recover from the setback stronger than ever.
• Mistakes are often made when you reach outside your comfort zone. If you stick to what you know very well, it’s less likely you will make a mistake – but you also won’t be as likely to advance in your career because you won’t be assuming new responsibilities or taking on new challenges. If you push yourself to try something that’s a little difficult or unfamiliar, you may make a mistake, but you also set yourself up for something better in the future.
• Mistakes can give you the opportunity to accept responsibility. When you make a mistake, you have the chance to show your employer you’re a problem solver who is willing to take ownership of a situation. Instead of passing the blame for your mistake, devise a solution to correct the issue. Approach your manager, admit the error and present your solution. Your employer will respect your honesty and will likely be delighted with the fact you took it upon yourself to become a problem solver. This could lead to you being entrusted with more responsibility since the manager knows you’ll take ownership and handle issues that arise.

It’s important you work at a company that allows you to grow and expand your professional knowledge – even if it occasionally leads to mistakes. SmartTalent can help you to find jobs where you are allowed room to grow and perfection isn’t a requirement. To find out how our staffing professionals can help you to land a great job in Kirkland, Fife, Renton, Lacey, Lynnwood, Everett and surrounding areas, give us a call today.