You've Got to Be Kidding!: How to Keep Your Job Without Losing Your Integrity

Step 5: Finally, Maintain a Positive Attitude

Do not dwell on your contrition, and don’t wear your mea culpa on your sleeve like some badge of nobility or heroics. People are attracted to upbeat, future-looking people who make good things happen. “Don’t plague yourself with ‘what if’s,’” says Jeanette Sanders at Honda of America in Marysville, Ohio. “Move on while maintaining the same professional integrity that you have always had.” Laura Black of SBC Global reminds us that, “Obsessing on what happened will only drive you crazy and accomplish nothing other than showing your peers and supervisor that you truly are not the right person for the position.” After all, as Susan L. Auyer, Bechtel National subcontract administrator in Richland, Washington, reminds us: “We’re all in the same boat. And as we preach here at Bechtel, if you handle it well, your mistake will not be the focus; your solution is what will be remembered.”

No one really cares how you feel about making the mistake, nor is anyone interested in your chattering about it. They’re busy, too, so try not to get stuck in the whiny place (they don’t understand me, it’s not really my fault, my cell phone died, everyone is against me, the job was too hard, I was busy doing something else, blah, blah, blah). Skip the drama (I’m so stupid! I can’t ever do anything right! etc.). Your best bet is to pick yourself up and fix the problem, starting with an honest appraisal of what happened. This is not about self-blame; it’s about ...