Bernard Madoff, who has pleaded guilty to 11 felony charges and could face up to 150 years in prison thanks to his $50bn Ponzi scheme, told the court he was “deeply sorry” for what he’s done. But his sentence will be his reparation — the apology itself was just a starting point and can do little for the investors he conned.
Yet apologising is becoming essential in business — not just in the dock (where it’s common) but among leaders and politicians who who oversaw the credit crisis.
Guardian writer Simon Hattenstone begged former Royal Bank of Scotland boss Sir Fred Goodwin to “just say sorry” – which Sir Fred duly did before the Treasury Select Committee in February.
He may even have meant it at the time. But his apology rang hollow when it was revealed he’d be taking home a generous pension from the bank he nearly ruined.
Talk is cheap if there’s no real contrition. As “Ethicability” author Roger Steare observes, an apology’s only valuable if it prefaces actions to put the problem right. Yet, done sincerely and by someone senior, it’s a powerful way to win people’s trust.
So why is it so hard to get leaders to apologise? The difficulty is often inbuilt into corporate cultures, particularly hierarchical businesses, where admitting to mistakes can feel uncomfortable or is seen as a sign of weakness.
“Apologies shouldn’t be unnatural to business people, but they can be — because people are often different among family and friends to work. We are not quite the people we want to be at work,” says Steare.
Steare’s point touches on the need for authenticity at work, much written about but harder to practise. Jeffrey Pfeffer argues convincingly that this starts with the language business leaders use to express what went wrong and why.
Most obviously, it’s about acting to remedy your error. Even an honestly delivered apology can be cynically received if it’s not followed by action. Apology advocate Marshall Goldsmith has this to say:
“Over time, when leaders’ actions match the commitments that they promise, this cynicism will begin to disappear. An apology should not be the end of this process — only the beginning.”
Less scapegoating, more solutions will make workplace apologies less onerous and more genuine. If your corporate culture’s one where they are rare, shaming exercises in hand-wringing, no-one will own up to mistakes and they’ll just get worse. Then the business really will be sorry.
