Do you often succumb to “I’ll do it myself”? Sometimes, hard-driving managers become frustrated when their staff makes mistakes, and as a result, they sing the refrain of “it’s easier to do it myself.”

This is usually a bad idea. Of course, there are exceptions, but overall, it’s better to take time to coach someone about what was done incorrectly and how to do it accurately the next time.

Doing so may take more time now, but one of the more positive outcomes is that the person should do it better the next time. (And, if the person keeps repeating the error, that is important to know so that you can take the appropriate action.)

The deeper context of mentoring your staff, though, relates to the “secrets” that emerge when you keep fixing things and not telling them. Your employees don’t know that something is wrong. They have the perception that they’re doing a good job.

If they find out inadvertently that they’ve been making mistakes, that you’ve been fixing them, and frankly, that you’ve become irritated about fixing the same things repeatedly, then they feel duped.

Who is wrong? The employee has made a mistake. Sometimes it might be sloppy work; other times it might be a genuine error from ignorance. But you’ve made the mistake by not addressing it. You’re keeping the truth from your employee because it’s easier for you to simply fix it and move on.

As errors accumulate over time, they can create cracks in your organizational foundation. You aren’t giving people the real opportunity to be successful, and as the manager, you suffer from a mediocre work product.

Taking time to tell the truth will go a long way to raising the quality of work product as well as the morale of your staff. It may take you longer to mentor them in the short run, but over time, you’ll have a stronger and more productive organization.

“Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.”
– Oscar Wilde