Having recently committed a major faux pas in a networking group I attend, it was time to apologize to the entire group. Which reminded me of a 5 step process I had learned several years earlier at a Peak Potentials seminar entitled “All Your Relations.” So I thought it might be useful to share with you the 5 steps in case you ever have to apologize to someone else. Here it is:
1. “I’m sorry.”
2. “I was wrong.”
3. “What can I do to make it right/better? (Then listen to their answer). “I understand.”
4. “I’ll do my best not to do or say that again.”
5. “Will you please forgive me?”
Now you may want to modify this slightly to fit your particular circumstance, or you may find one of these statements hard to say (for me it’s #2), but I promise you it works. And what I mean by that is that it works for them as well as for you. More often than not they’ll thank you for saying it, and you’ll feel a whole lot better having gotten it out. So take a moment and look to see if there’s anyone in your life that you need to apologize to…and then “Just Do It!”