Alastair WallaceCEO. Lead Consultant. Trainer. Coach, Brainfood Ltd · Leadership & Management Training for Busy Managers. Helping senior leaders stop handholding | Brain-friendly, diary-friendly | Save 5+ hours a week | 23,500 managers trained | 200% ROI guaranteed. TED

Recovering from a mistake

9 Sept 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:13

In this short instructional video, Alastair Wallace explains that while everyone makes mistakes, the real threat to trust comes from hiding them, blaming others, over‑explaining, or pretending they went unnoticed. He cites Amy Edmondson’s research on psychological safety, which shows that teams perform better when members can admit errors, ask for help, and challenge each other without fear of blame. Wallace offers a concise three‑part script for managers: acknowledge the specific mistake, describe its impact, and outline concrete corrective actions. By delivering ownership, impact, and action, leaders can repair and even strengthen trust after a slip. He also promotes his free “Say It First” guide for handling awkward managerial conversations.

Chapters

We all screw up from time to time, even me. Research shows us though, mistakes don't damage trust as much as hiding them does. The mistake is rarely the whole problem though. The real damage comes from hiding it, blaming other people, overexplaining, or pretending nobody noticed. Research on psychological safety by Amy Edmondson shows that teams actually perform better when people can admit errors, they can ask for help, and they can, you know, challenge you without fear of blame. People need evidence that you can own and repair your own mistakes. Say this: I made the wrong call on X that created Y for you. Here's what I'm going to do to fix it and to stop it happening again. It works because you're giving people 3 things. You're giving them ownership, you're talking impact, but also action. This is how you rebuild trust after a wobble. We all have them. It's called being human. If you want the words for more awkward manager conversations just like this, grab my free Say It First guide. I'll put it with this post.