I Screwed Up, by Michael Davis – Straight No Chaser #303 | @MDWorld

February 22, 2013 Michael Davis 2 Comments

I screwed up.

I’ve been doing that a lot lately. My most recent screw up started three weeks ago at a high-level meeting my publicist set up.

I was off my game. I told myself I was off my game because this meeting took months of back and forth to set up, and I was a bit taken aback by that. In other words, I was a bit pissed when I walked in the meeting, and told myself I had every right to be.

Again, I was off my game, and when the meeting ended there was a “next step” that my team was responsible for — that means I was responsible for. Here it is three weeks later, and I’ve done nothing.

So, like I said, I screwed up.

Yes, I was off my game, but it wasn’t because of anything anyone else had done. It was because of something I had done. Something stupid I had done, and ever since I did it I’ve been consumed with it.

I’m having a problem thinking of anything else.

That’s not an excuse, that’s an explanation.

There is no excuse for my unprofessional behavior. Regardless of the “why,” I did not act professionally, and that is simply not acceptable.

I screwed up.

So, after I write this article I’m writing an apology email to those who were in the meeting. I’m not trying to save the deal — that boat has sailed. Those people in the meeting deserve an apology for me wasting their time.

Secondly, but maybe most importantly, those people in the meeting deserve to know that my publicist does not represent unprofessional assholes.

Well, she did at the meeting, but 99.9% of the time I’m ultra-professional, and they need to know that she was in no way responsible for me dropping the ball.

Yes, I’m still an asshole, but I’m a professional asshole.

Somehow I’m thinking the above sentence should be reworded, but I’m going to let it stand. I deserve it.

Lana, you were right, I was wrong.

Sorry.