Working Through the Mistake Shame Spiral

Questions to sit with so you can lead with grace and compassion instead of shame and guilt.

Photo by Daniela Holzer on Unsplash

My third job after college was as a marketing manager for an association. I had just done a two-year stint as a personal trainer, so my marketing muscles were a little lackluster.

I remember a specific season when my dad was facing a scary health issue, and I just wasn't fully present, mentally. I was working on a new training initiative with the vice president, a lawyer in his early thirties (?), when he called me into his office and asked me to close the door.

When I sat down in the chair across from his desk, he asked, with what I perceived to be irritation, "Is there something going on with you? Because this document has way too many mistakes. When I get something, it should be ready to go. This is not."

With such an "empathetic" opener, how could I not share something vulnerable about my personal life? [Insert sarcastic eye roll here]

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This post is part of the ‘Behind the Business’ series. You can read the rest (plus gain access to the archives) by becoming a paid subscriber. This series is an every-other-week post sharing personal thoughts, comments, strategies and tactics about the ups and downs of building a people-first, service-based business, as a mom and wife.