Failure is a masterful teacher. I hope I am a leader that encourages new ideas. I really try to be. I fully understand that sometimes thinking outside of the box is risky. You will fail at times. Sometimes that’s a good thing and we learn.
I’ve failed many times. I have learned a little each time. I think government has failed a lot. My own profession has had its share of failures. It’s human.
Failure inspired this blog.
I want to tell you a quick tale of one of my failures.
You know I try to live by the adage “always do what you say your going to do”. Because if you don’t, you’re just giving someone lip service, like any snake oil salesman or other less honorable occupation.
This is a story where I failed. I failed royally.
But first and explanation on how I think. I believe my job is to:
I often get asked to write letters of recommendation or to be a reference for folks. I happily do it every single time because I know what it’s like to need help like that, because I was in their place at one time. Well, I should say I do it every single time, except for one time, and failed to do it that time, on time.
A dear friend’s child messaged me well before the deadline for a needed letter of recommendation. I say dear friend, because she really is. She has been a friend to our little family for many years. Frankly more like family in many respects. She was one of the very first people to show up to help us after our house got turned into a drive-thru by a drunk driver. Truly she is a good friend.
As I said, I was asked to write a letter of recommendation well before it was due. I happily agreed. I remember it was late when I received the message so, I figured I would go over what the letter needed later and get it done. Well you know what, I didn’t do that. I forgot about it, well mostly.
I won’t fall on an easy excuse that I was too busy. It’s true, I have things going on almost every day and night. But that’s not an excuse. When you say you will do something, you do it, period.
I got a message from my dear friend one day, weeks later. She said it was past the due date. I could tell she was upset. I was mortified and sick to my stomach. I failed a person that I truly care about. I was so wrapped up in the day-to-day things I do and failed to handle the thing right in front of my nose. The classic “cannot see the mountains beyond the trees” or vice versa scenario.
I apologized profusely to both my friend and her child. Her child got a hold me little later and asked if I could still write a letter. I immediately dropped everything I was doing and wrote it and sent it over.
This one stung. I still think about it and it bothers me.
Lesson:
That is all,
Chief
This post was originally published on October 25, 2017 on Chief Westrick’s blog.
