When Was the Last Time You Admitted You Were Wrong?

Posted on September 14, 2010
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(7) comments

Perry Noble had a great post recently that talked about why leaders refuse to admit they are wrong...

I've been in the church world nearly all my life, and I have to say that I've seen many pastors that fall into this trap. For some reason, they just can't admit that they are wrong. Ever.

Perry does a nice job of discovering reasons why this might be the case:

#1 – Pride – So many churches and ministries have been derailed because the leader KNEW he was wrong but refused to admit it. It wasn’t a problem with information but rather a problem with integrity!

#2 – Fear - Some leaders feel if they admit they are wrong that they will lose the respect of the people who follow them…when the opposite is true, people love it when a leader admits the obvious…even if it makes them “look bad.”

#3 – Ignorance - They don’t know that they’re wrong, they’re clueless…and if this is the case then they have most likely surrounded themselves with people who are either too insecure to speak truth to them…or too dumb to see the obvious!

#4 – Apathy – They know change needs to take place, they see the writing on the wall; however, making changes would disrupt their way (and style) of living…they care WAY more about themselves and their comfort than they do the people they lead.

So... my question for you today: when was the last time you admitted that you were wrong?

And which of the four culprits above most often hinder you from coming clean?

I'd love to hear your comments...

Todd

Comments

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Jerry on Tue, September 14, 2010

I have to admit it more often than I’d like, BUT it helps me keep short accounts and I don’t wrestle with things building up and causing much, much bigger problems down the line.
Leonard on Tue, September 14, 2010

All the time… and the sad part is that it’s true. Oh well.
Peter Hamm on Tue, September 14, 2010

I have plenty of people who tell me when I’m wrong… that makes it easy and hard at the same time.
keith on Tue, September 14, 2010

I do apologize and, like Leonard, have to do it frequently since I frequently make mistakes. I have great difficulty relating to people who refuse to apologize when they’re wrong. And as far as Perry’s points above, I believe #2 is WAY off from actual reality; people will trust you and like you more when you’re willing to own up to your mistakes. Anyone who believes people will trust & like you less is believing a lie.

Of course, there are hurtful people in churches who will jump on opportunities to attack you. But they’re the minority of churchgoers.
CS on Tue, September 14, 2010

I just admitted to being wrong as little as 15 minutes ago. Just another part of the day.

Now, when was the last time I admitted Perry Noble was wrong? Well, that would be a different question.

—
CS
Broan on Thu, September 16, 2010

I admitted to be wrong about 1 week ago.
Fred on Thu, September 16, 2010

Sometimes the “insecurity” to speak up is because you would be instantly fired by narcissistic leader. Beside, touch not God’s anointed. lol! You have to TOTALLY SUBMITTED to your pastor or you will be one of the sorry offended people who left the church. A favorite topic for scorn and a good laugh at staff meetings. And he said so and so and then I said blankety blank and so forth…