Why do we all, and I stress all of us, have problems admitting when we are wrong?
“I was wrong” stumbles out of our mouths, usually very quietly and sheepishly. Invariably, we look anywhere except into the eyes of the person we are admitting it to. If we are politicians like the First Lady, we pass the task along to our press secretary.
After seven decades and a lot of reflection on my past, I was wrong on more than one occasion and much more often than I would care to admit. I have chosen not to count the times.
My being wrong, fortunately, didn’t cost anyone their life, rarely impacted a bottom line for the organization, but always, upon reflection, impacted another person’s life in some way, albeit most times minimally but not always.
Yesterday in San Antonio, Texas, Dr. Jill Biden opened her mouth and inserted her foot. Have we not all done the same thing in some way at some time?
From news service The Blaze: First lady Jill Biden is sorry she compared Latinos to “breakfast tacos” at a “Latinx Incluxion” conference on Monday — at least that’s what her press secretary, Michael LaRosa, said in a tweet Tuesday morning.
Biden has faced mockery and ridicule after saying the Latino community is “as distinct as the bodegas [which she mispronounced as ‘bogedas’] of the Bronx, as beautiful as the blossoms of Miami, and as unique as the breakfast tacos here in San Antonio” at the UnidosUS annual conference held in San Antonio, Texas.
These admissions bring me to the first piece of advice I have for First Lady Jill Biden. Read and practice your speech before the presentation, and have your team critique and coach you.
Use common sense and an ear and servant’s heart when phrasing your speech instead of going for some corny alliteration. Place your ego to the side and speak from the heart, if you can.
And this is my second and final piece of advice. When you mess up and are wrong, admit it humbly, ask for forgiveness, and move on, determined not to make the same mistake again.
When we are wrong, we must have the courage to promptly and personally say, “I was wrong” to the offended party.
L. Darryl Armstrong Ph.D. 