Originally published by the New Orleans City Business on December 1, 2020.
Question from CityBusiness reader Heather M: One of my employees asked me if he should apologize to his team after a difficult team meeting where he became angry and emotional. It made me think about the times I could have used more diplomacy and decorum in difficult interactions. What should I tell him about handling his apology? How should I handle an apology? Thank you for your advice.
Heather, as an executive coach I frequently work with people who are already very successful and want to take their leadership and performance to new levels. Yet even with these clients I regularly see behavior that gets in the way of them being more effective, like losing their temper or being rude. As the client and I go through a process of fully understanding how they can improve their performance, I often ask them if “they need to right a wrong” their undesired behavior may have caused. More often than not, the answer is yes.