How to own it
So you f**ked up with a colleague, now what?
I recently spoke with one of my fellow social justice warriors. She is an amazing
expert who has many years of experience implementing RP and also working in various environments from business to the community.
She mentioned that she was recently advocating for a young person. She was arguing with another adult in charge of this youth and expressing that this young person was worth working with due to the many disparities that they had faced throughout their lifetime.
My friend, we will call her Jasmine, said that the conversation did not end well. The other adult was very defensive and upset by the end and Jasmine wasn’t sure if she had handled the situation well.
Later that night Jasmine received this email:
Dear Jasmine,
I wanted to reach out and let you know that I have had a lot of time to reflect on the conversation we had earlier today. I appreciate that you were advocating for (the youth) and challenged me to think about things in a different way. I know that I was defensive and hot in the moment and I hope you can give me grace. You remind me of the growth I still have to make and I appreciate your example each and every day. Please know that I am working through all of this and will do better. Again, I hope you can extend me grace as I grow. I promise to listen more and check my defensiveness.
Sincerely,
(Blank to Protect Reputations)
This is how you respond to a time when you F**ked up. You
, you ask for grace, and you promise to grow and do better.