I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched it, but it always makes me laugh.  It could be that I’ve always been a John Cusack fan or that the scenes in the movie take me straight back to the mid-80’s (when I had long hair and no bald spot).  Regardless of when “Hot Tub Time Machine” is on, I watch it (even though I own it and can watch it without commercials).

Watching the movie also makes me think…“if I had a hot tub time machine, what would I  go back and change?”  I can’t think of much personally.  I have four great children and have had a great run so far (I’m only 49 so I think I have a few good years left).  I would, however, change  some of the mistakes I made in my first supervisory position.

Mistakes?  Hell yeah!  I made a lot of them.  Hindsight being 20/20, I was wrapped tight and didn’t see much past myself.  Here are just a few of the assumption errors I made that failed miserably (I’m sure my starter team could add to the list):

I assumed people liked what I liked.  Seems pretty simple, eh?  If I like a certain reward,  certainly others do too!  Nope….that’s not the way it worked.  It was only through getting to know my team members individually did I find out what they liked and I could match the reward to the person for maximum motivation.

I assumed people knew what I knew.  We’ve all been around and know the same things, right?  Nope…the team only knows what you know when you let them know.  Even if they do know, you letting them know what you know eliminates speculation or their own assumptions.

I assumed people knew what to do or how to do it.  Nearly the same as the previous assumption but, if we’ve all been around the same time and had the same experiences, we all should know what needs to be done, right?  Nope…I had to learn to show, not tell.

I assumed people knew how well they did.   Just because I told you last year that you were great that still stands, right?  Nope…people need reinforcement on how their doing on a continual basis.  I had to learn to tie the reinforcement to the behavior I wanted to see repeated if I wanted to see it again (or I rarely did see it again).

Unlike “Hot Tub Time Machine 2”, my leadership sequels were much better.  I learned from my mistakes and worked hard not to make them again.  But to you, my starter team, I apologize.  Others benefitted from the mistakes I made with you and if I could go back and change these errors, I would.  Thanks for sticking with me anyway.

How about you?  Have you made mistakes as a leader?  Don’t beat yourself up about it.  Reflect, acknowledge, and correct it the next time around.  You can’t go back it time but you can do it different the next time.  Just keep doing your best.  No one can fault you for that.