The Art of Recovery
Legionnaire falls after picnic bench breaks, near Louisville, Kentucky by Marion Post Wolcott
I didn't send out a newsletter last week. I had set expectations and deadlines from the start and completely missed this one. It's likely, if you’re on my newsletter list, you didn't even notice, yet I'm aware that I defaulted on an agreement between myself and my readers. That matters to me.
Last year, I helped develop a curriculum for the American Management Association on women's "executive presence,” which focused on a few vital mindsets and practices. One of them? Recovering from slip-ups.
It was actually my favorite section of the program, possibly because I navigate gaffes (imagined or real) almost daily. While exploring recovery techniques, one idea resonated deeply: "At a brain level, combining self-compassion with self-talk calms us down and enables critical thinking and a quicker recovery." Self-compassion isn't permission to dismiss mistakes—it's giving our nervous system space to reorient toward recovery.
Missing a newsletter deadline is relatively minor, but sometimes, slip-ups are larger, affecting important deadlines, bottom lines, or relationships. When this happens, I want to encourage you to take a breath, own your error, and practice a little self-compassion.
Because owning our errors and recovering well from them aren't just elements of executive presence—they're fundamental to how we build trust, demonstrate integrity, and nurture relationships with everyone around us.
“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
— Confucius
Put it into Practice: The Recovery Pause
When you make a mistake or miss a deadline, try this 3-step recovery pause:
Take three deep breaths.
Acknowledge the slip-up without judgment: "I missed this deadline. This happens."
Ask yourself: "What's one small step I can take right now to move forward?"
This practice may seem overly simple, but mastering it builds the emotional muscle memory needed for recovery when the stakes are much higher. Like any skill worth developing, it transforms from conscious effort into natural strength with practice.
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