Every day you make thousands of decisions.  You make decisions about what to wear, what to work on, who to contact, how to solve a problem.  Some of these decisions are complex and related to topics where you are not the expert.  When is the last time you took a 1000 question challenging test and scored 100%?  To think that we are batting 1000 day in and day out would be awfully arrogant of us yet we act as though we are near perfection anyway.

How many times per day do you say “I’m sorry, I was wrong”, or “you were right”?  You probably can’t recall because it’s not something we do enough of.

Pointing out when you are wrong or better yet when someone else is right is a powerful relationship tool.  It shows you are human just like them, it shows you trust and value their thoughts, and most importantly it builds trust in you because others will see you as a person of character that only cares about getting IT RIGHT and not BEING RIGHT.

Search out opportunities in meetings and other discussions to admit when you are wrong.  You’ll strengthen relationships and become a better listener as you encourage others to speak openly and without fear of being corrected.