Experts on how owning up to mistakes in the workplace is the best option

Punam Raut walks off to the pavilion in the Test against Australia. Pic/Getty Images

The Australian cricketers put up a questioning appeal that was half-hearted at best. The umpire shook his head, clearly mouthing the words, ‘not out'. But Indian batter Punam Raut still decided to walk back to the pavilion with barely a second's hesitation, convinced that she had nicked the ball to the wicket-keeper in the recently concluded one-off pink-ball Test match between the two countries. In doing so, Raut decided to not compromise on her integrity, upholding what the commentators dubbed as the ‘spirit of the game'. But that ‘spirit' doesn't merely extend to the cricket field. Acknowledging and owning up to your mistakes, even when others haven't spotted it, is the sign of a strong moral compass even in an office scenario, where a person's ethical belief system counts for as much as his or her competence in the job. Here, two experts tell us why honesty is the best policy in a work environment, where hiding the truth or outright lying can land you in all sorts of trouble.

>>Integrity is key: At the end of the day, says psychologist and success coach Sushma IR, what's important is what you stand for as a person. "If you subscribe to the idea of integrity and the right ethics, owning up to your mistake will mean that you aren't let down in your own eyes. In a way, each person is a brand individually, and each brand has its qualities and attributes that add up to the brand equity. So, it's about how you perceive yourself from that standpoint," she tells us, while image consultant Greeshma Thampi adds, "It really is important that we understand what the core values we have grown up with are. Some people value kindness and respect. Others value honesty, and if you have 100-per cent clarity on what your values are, your decision-making becomes really simple. In Raut's case, she took the decision to walk because she knew that she'd have to look into the mirror and face herself the next day. She had that clarity [which helped her walk back voluntarily]."

Greeshma Thampi and Sushma IR

>>The repercussions: If, however, you choose to remain silent about a mistake that no one else has spotted, it will remain a burden you are carrying. "Someone might find out six months later, and the guilt will then consume you and you will feel ashamed of yourself," Thampi explains, with Sushma pointing out how your productivity might get affected while you hide the mistake because you will spend too much energy on covering it up. "Your stress levels will be high, and that will affect your mental health," she explains.

>>How it reflects: But, on the other hand, if you do own up to your mistake, it shows that you feel as if you are accountable for your work. Sushma tells us, "It shows that you are not looking at it as merely a job, but as value you add to the company," while Thampi adds that owning up to a mistake also offers a person a chance to find a solution for it, even as the whole process acts as a case study for others in the team, who will know what the error entails and how not to repeat it. "You are creating a safe space for others to also come clean, because you are comfortable displaying your vulnerability and human side," she says.

>>Building respect: All this, ultimately, will lead to people respecting you more, even though it's you who made the mistake. Thampi highlights how not just the Indian team, but even the Australian women cricketers and the international media lauded Raut for her act. Similarly, people at the workplace will also trust and respect someone who has the gumption to own up to a mistake instead of covering it up with lies. That's the sort of person we tend to look up to, instead of someone who shoots from over another person's shoulder to hide their own faults, because there are few things that are worse than that.

Coming clean

Thampi tells us about the case of JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who, in 2012, had misled investors about losses amounting to $6.2 billion. Dimon had dismissed press accounts when he was already in the know about the losses. But he came clean a month later, before the true nature of the losses was revealed in the public domain. And consequently, he rose in stature in the eyes of his subordinates, one of whom described him as having moral courage, "the most valuable and usually the most absent characteristic in men." Dimon remains CEO of the firm.