Back in the olden days, when dinosaurs roamed the earth and thoughts were kept on “post-its” (and not a smart phone), I was in charge of the travel budget for my squadron.  Since we had planes, travel was part of what we did and keeping a tight budget was paramount in our ability to make mission.

When I took over as the travel clerk, I had taken the time to move us out of the dark, dark ages of tracking funds on an abacus and stone to a new thing called a “Spreadsheet.”  It was an amazing tool that helped me keep the budget balanced easily.  I had been using this tool successfully for about a year when the comptroller called me and told me I was out of money.  Being a tad cocky, I argued that this was impossible because I showed money on my spreadsheet and that, invariably, she was wrong.  This didn’t go over very well.  To prove my rightness, I went through my entire year’s expenditures…line by line and found that I was the one that was wrong.  Somewhere, tucked away in cell, a formula was missing and I was in the hole….BIG!    To make matters worse, we had a big mission coming up and I had just briefed my boss that we were A-OK on funds…all systems were GO!  I was beside myself with grief.

How could I have missed something so simple? How could I be the one responsible for us not making mission?  What was I going to do?

Yes, my friends, I screwed the pooch.  It wasn’t the first time in my life and it hasn’t been the last.  We ALL screw the pooch at some time.  I handled this time just like how, as a leader, I like people to come to me after the pooch has been defiled.

First, I admitted it.  My first instinct was that of survival.   This was a big mistake and I was sure I was going to get an ass chewing.  I went to my boss and let him know what was going on.  He was upset but appreciated my honesty.  Few can argue with you when you admit you’re wrong and made a mistake.  His anger was tempered when I didn’t expect him to correct it.  I left letting him know that I was “on it.”

I got out in front of it.  In this instance, I immediately called the comptroller and let her know what was going on and asked what I could do.  Every problem has some kind of solution – even if it’s unsolvable, it is sometimes still workable.  The comptroller explained to me that out of money is out of money BUT we could borrow from the next quarter.  If you’ve hit that pooch hard, bring others together if you can to help you try and get to a solution.

I went to my boss with a solution.  No one wants more work on their plate (your boss included).  My mistake was his mistake and if I didn’t correct it, he’d have to.  He was used to this from me.  Not only did I screw the pooch regularly, I also would have solutions for fixing it (part of the reason he felt better when I told him I was “on it” when I told him about the mistake).

No one is perfect and we all make mistakes.  The difference comes down to what we do AFTER the mistake is made.  We can hide it, hope that no one ever finds out, blame it on something (or someone else) or we can jump into the fire and fix it.  As a leader, I expect people to make mistakes.  It is part of the learning process.  However, I love those people that come to me with the solution to fix the mistake.  Those are the people who won’t make that mistake again and, in the end, will help the team grow.  So go ahead and screw that pooch (just know how to handle it after).

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