Thursday, September 6, 2018

To apologize or not to apologize?


A story is told about Rudolf who is a manager in an Information Technology Co. Rudolf is a brash and arrogant manager/leader. He does not hesitate to admonish his subordinates whenever he wants to do so.

There was one office meeting wherein he arrogantly told his newly promoted supervisor: I am not recognizing your promotion because you did not pass through the proper selection process. But the newly promoted supervisor told him: I respectfully disagree with you sir for the reason that I went through the process and I also complied all the necessary requirements to enable my promotion.  Eventually, it was proven that the newly promoted supervisor had complied with everything that was required for him to be promoted.

Now, the question that needs to be answered is, should the manager apologize for mistake and arrogance? Many managers/leaders would not apologize because they may think that it could weaken their authority and position of leadership.  Instead, they would simply let that episode pass by and be forgotten.

However, is not to apologize right? Of course not! A good and ethical leader should apologize most especially mistakes brought about by arrogance and power tripping. This is for the reason that when a leader apologizes it enhance not only his position of leadership but also his reputation and credibility as a leader.

To apologize is never a show of weakness it’s actually a show of a leader’s humility, strength of character and wisdom. But, for a myopic leader/manager to apologize is never part of his/her vocabulary. Why? For the simple reason that he/she continuously allow his mind to be enveloped by arrogance. 

Therefore, a good leader/manager must throw away or discard any form of arrogance in his/her exercise of managerial and leadership function. He/she should instead let in humility for it will certainly enhance his/her reputation and value as a good, compassionate and effective leader. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

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