I was rolling into the end of the work week when I got an email notifying me that I had made an error in a presentation that had been published in a news article. I had both misidentified a building and had an incorrect date for a photo. Both were honest mistakes, and there are a lot of context reasons for why it happened, but the short of it is that I got it wrong, and that was pointed out to me by another professional who had the correct information.

Ugh.

Being corrected is hard, even when it isn’t done publicly. I don’t like to make errors, and I didn’t like that I had made this one. Not a good feeling.

But I did, and I did it honestly, and I knew I had to respond with humility and gratitude. The world is just a very small place.

So I thanked the person who had notified me, and explained how I had made the mistake and what steps I would be taking to correct the mistake.

I emailed the publication and provided the information for the correction.

I got on social media and explained that I had made a mistake and just found out the correct information, and shared the correction.

I made the correction to the materials I had developed, and double-checked the rest of the materials for any similar potential mistakes.

And now I’m reminding myself that being uncomfortable, a little embarrassed and humble is much better than being angry, dismissive and not open to correction. I learned something, I had a colleague who cared enough to speak up, and I didn’t give into the shame gremlins.