An Effective Way To Apologize

When’s the last time you screwed up and owed someone an apology? It’s probably fairly recently.

We all mess up and hurt those we care about and lead. I know I’ve needed to apologize recently.

That’s not to say I’m perfect at apologizing. Oh, no! Far from it. I’m not even good.

Ask my wife and she’ll probably tell you that I suck at apologizing. (But that’s a discussion for another time and also a reason I’m writing this post)

Frankly, I’m not good at apologizing. Words fumble out of my mouth and they don’t even sound like an apology.

But I was reading Chris Brogan’s book The Freaks Shall Inherit The Earth: Entrepreneurship For Weirdos, Misfits, And World Dominators and came across a section that made me pause and think.

Leadership Insights: Interview With John G. Miller of QBQ!

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA

Welcome to another edition of Leadership Insights where I share interviews I have done with other leaders.

Recently, I interviewed John G. Miller, the founder of QBQ! Inc, author of the book QBQ! The Question Behind The Question: Practicing Personal Accountability At Work And In Life (This is an affiliate link. If you click on it and purchase an item, I get a small commission), and professional speaker. If you couldn’t tell by the title of his book, John preaches and lives personal responsibility.

John took valuable time out of his day to answer my questions and the questions of a few readers. Reading through his answers, I was excited to share his insights with you. I hope you’ll enjoy reading the interview as much as I had conducting it.

Q1: Your book, QBQ! The Question Behind The Question, is all about personal accountability. How does the concept of personal accountability relate to the role of a leader?