I recently came across the following quote ~ “If you are not making mistakes, it means you are not trying hard enough.” Now I would tell you who said this, but the website I found it on neglected to credit the author. Maybe it was an honest mistake. Or perhaps it was their attempt at irony.
After reading this, I began to think about my own approach to dealing with mistakes. I am a big believer in constructive criticism. After all, it is how we learn from our mistakes. I appreciate when people point out things I have done wrong. It gives me a chance to correct my mistakes. And when someone disagrees with a decision I have made, their feedback provides me the opportunity to re-evaluate my methodology and view things from a different perspective.
Sometimes the thought of making a mistake can be frightening. Nobody likes to be told they’ve done something wrong. Some people deal with it better than others. Some take the criticism, correct their errors, and move forward. Others allow the fear of making a mistake to stop them in their tracks. To me, this is the biggest mistake of them all.
During my time as CEO of the Federation, I have made a conscious effort to work on setting aside my fear of making mistakes. The Dayton Jewish community is full of a wide variety of opinions and I, along with the rest of our staff, value each and every one of them. We rely on your feedback to help us improve and grow.
Whenever we, as an organization, are making a decision, we always ask “Is this what is best for the Dayton Jewish community?” Sometimes, despite our best efforts, mistakes happen. But our number one goal is to do what is best for the community, and we will continue to work toward this every day.
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