Scripts and tips to boost your confidence and help you recover from mistakes at work

A few years ago, I made a mistake at Google.

And I handled it in the worst possible way.

I was in a client meeting presenting revenue history and projections to upsell them several million dollars.

The client asked in front of 20 people if it was possible I’d accidentally used their average historical spend for my projections rather than their requested median.

My face turned bright red.

I had a sinking feeling the client might be right, but I doubled down on my mistake. Otherwise, it would have rendered the next 15 slides of my presentation incorrect.

“No. These projections are correct.”

My boss was there, so I charged forward with no acknowledgement that it’s possible I’d made a mistake.

Even though it was clear to everyone in the room that I had.

Instead of immediately addressing it, I went silent for three days.

I pretended like nothing had happened. No deep diving into the numbers, no following up with the client, no asking my manager for advice.

I hoped it would go away. Even though the pit in my stomach would not.

Eventually, the client emailed my manager, who set up time with me.

“I’m so sorry,” I said. “I’ve been so overwhelmed lately. This kind of thing never happens to me. I think I got bad data from the client.”

No specifics. No ownership. No plan to prevent it from happening again.

The damage wasn’t the data-analysis mistake. It was my response.

My manager lost trust in my judgment. My boss’s boss had to get involved and smooth things over with the client.

If my mistakes had been handled differently, none of this would have happened.

The Problem

Most people handle mistakes terribly.

They panic. They make excuses. They try to cover it up or hope no one notices.

Or they go the opposite direction and over-apologize, turning a small mistake into a bigger drama than it needs to be.

Spoiler alert: you ARE going to make mistakes at work.

But how you handle them separates the people who get promoted from the people who get quietly managed out.

The Big Small Thing

You made a mistake. Here’s your 24-hour recovery plan:

Hour 1: Own it immediately.

Don’t wait. Don’t hope it goes away. Address it head-on.

Who to tell (and in what order):

1. Your direct boss. Always first. Don’t let them find out from someone else.
2. Anyone directly affected. People who received bad information or were impacted by the mistake.
3. Your team. If it affects their work or they need to know for context.

Steal This Script: “I made an error on the quarterly report. I sent out numbers that were off by 15%. I’m fixing it now and will have the corrected version to you within the hour.”

What NOT to say:

❌ “I’m so sorry, I’m such an idiot”

❌ “It wasn’t really my fault because…”

❌ “I’ve been so busy lately”

❌ “This never happens to me”

What TO say:

✅ “I made an error”

✅ “Here’s what I’m doing to fix it”

✅ “I’ve put a process in place to prevent this”

Hour 2-6: Fix what you can.

Take immediate action to minimize damage. Don’t just identify the problem. Solve it.

Steal This Script: “I’ve corrected the error and sent the updated report to everyone who received the original. I’ve also flagged the discrepancy in the executive summary, so it’s clear what changed.”

Hour 6-24: Follow up with a plan.

Show you’ve learned something and put systems in place to prevent it from happening again.

Steal This Script: “I’ve added a second review step to my process where I’ll have a colleague check my numbers before sending reports to leadership. This will prevent similar errors going forward.”

Save these scripts for different situations:

•  Missing a deadline: “I missed the deadline for the marketing brief. It’s 80% complete and I’ll have it to you by 2 PM today. I underestimated the research time required and will build in a bigger buffer for similar projects.”

•  Sending wrong information: “I sent incorrect pricing information in yesterday’s client email. I’ve sent a correction to the client and CCed you. I’ve also updated our master pricing sheet to prevent this error.”

•  Judgment call that went wrong: “The vendor I recommended didn’t deliver as expected. I’m handling the immediate issues with them and have identified two backup options. I’ll send you my evaluation criteria for vendor selection, so we can refine the process.”

BONUS: Two weeks later, send a brief update showing your new process is working:

“Quick update: The double-check system I implemented after my report error has been working well. All reports since then have been error-free, and the extra review step only adds 10 minutes to my process.”

Want more? Here are some tips on how to get promoted.

How This Helps You Get What You Want

When you handle mistakes well, people notice your problem-solving skills, your accountability, and your ability to improve systems.

That’s the kind of person who gets more responsibility, not less.

Mistakes don’t ruin careers. Poor responses to mistakes do.

Own it, fix it, improve it, move on.