The resignation is an extreme example. But everyone makes mistakes. There is a certain image of oneself to protect. To protect that picture, one may hide a mistake or make excuses about one’s conduct. One may find, however, it is better to be regarded as trustworthy and sincere because they were open than to carry the burden of deception and be thought of as weak or sneaky.

Out of the ashes come growth and often new opportunity. If everything is sailing along with no problems, there is no learning and things appear stagnant. Mistakes shake up the status quo. Author Richard Bach put it this way, “There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts.” Plenty of big mistakes turned out well. Christopher Columbus was incorrect; he was looking for Asia and ran into America. Henry Ford, inventor of the Model T car, founded four companies and was unsuccessful with each. We know what happened with the fifth try. Steve Jobs founded Apple, from which he got fired in 1985. Today he’s back as chief executive officer of Apple and of the film animation firm Pixar and is generally accounted a genius. This sort of thing is so common that Harvey Mackay has written a book citing the stories of many superstars; he calls it We Got Fired! : . . . And It’s the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Us.

Steve Goodier gives a three step process for dealing with mistakes: (A) “Acknowledge your error and accept responsibility for it.” He says the problem cannot be fixed if it’s not admitted. (B) “Be gentle with yourself.” (C) “Correct it and move on.”

The people that take responsibility for their actions are continually learning, gaining confidence and making more responsible decisions. Best of all, the people that take responsibility for their own actions are self-governing, no matter what their work situation.