Everyday you make thousands of decisions. You make decisions like what time to wake up and what to wear. You make little insignificant decisions like whether or not you’ll have mini chocolate donuts with breakfast. You make significant decisions like what you are going to focus on for the day. These decisions and dozens more all happen before you leave home in the morning. Do you think every decision you make is the right one? Wouldn’t it be awfully arrogant to think that we are right 1000+ times per day? Are you really that perfect?

How many times per day do you say “I am sorry, I was wrong”, or better yet “you were right”? I wager the average person does not do this even once per day.

Pointing out when you are wrong or when someone else is right is an extremely powerful relationship tool. It shows others that you are human just like them. It demonstrates that you listen to them. It provides evidence that you value their opinions. Most importantly saying “you were right” builds trust because others will see you as a person of character that cares about getting IT RIGHT and not BEING RIGHT.

Search out opportunities in meetings and other discussions to publicly say “I was wrong, You were right”. You will strengthen relationships and become a better leader as you encourage others to speak openly and without fear of being corrected.