Being neurodiverse and a business leader is rewarding, but it also comes with unique challenges- like learning how to apologize in a way that honors both your dignity and your different thinking. In this video, I share one of the hardest lessons I’ve learned about apologizing: how to take full ownership without excuses, repair relationships, and grow stronger as a leader.
Through a personal story from a group coaching experience, I’ll discuss why apologies done well can build trust, and why done poorly, they can take months (or more) to heal. This is for every different thinker, every neurodiverse professional, and every leader who wants to navigate relationships with authenticity and respect.
I’m JoyGenea, International Neurodiversity Coach, helping people around the world live robust, empowered, and incredible lives.
Transcription:
I would love to tell you that being neurodiverse and a business leader, and so forth, is just the most incredible thing, and every day is roses. Most of the time, it is. And one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned along the way, and I would highly recommend for every neurodiverse person, anybody who’s a different thinker, is how to apologize in a way that respects your dignity and honors your different thinking, but also acknowledges that potentially, at times, you may say or do things that another person could be offended by, or could take personally, and that was not your intention.
And owning that. And I can honestly tell you, apologies are not easy when they really need to be done right. And I’ve learned this one, trust me, through trial and error and a few mistakes along the way. And one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had was when I was, um, in a group coaching setting. I was multitasking, can you imagine, doing about three things at once, and somebody was sharing something very, very personal and very important. And I was only fractionally listening, and I made a comment, and it hit that person horribly.
And it literally took me months to not just… I don’t know that I, to this day, have earned back that person’s trust. I can tell you, to just, um, rectify the situation so the group could continue, that person was so devastated. And I learned a very valuable lesson about how to properly apologize—taking full ownership, no excuses, and honoring the fact that I had dramatically erred and caused them harm.
So, I’m JoyGenea, International Neurodiversity Coach, helping people, coaching them to know how to make those incredible apologies, knowing how to catch themselves before they need to create a situation where they’ll need to use those apologies, and just helping people live robust and incredible lives.
Thank you so much. Bye now.