Eating Crow

Welcome to Headhunter Secrets, where I’ll share perspectives about the search business. We hope you’ll use our services to execute searches. Nonetheless, I wanted to give you some insights I’ve gained from doing search work since I was 23 years old.

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Eating Crow
Fess up to mistakes quickly

Perhaps the expression “eat crow” ages me. But this memorable way of urging one to confess to a mistake swiftly is a principle that the best employees and bosses live by. Eating crow is especially relevant when we’ve taken a strong public stance that proves to be wrong. 

We all make mistakes. Sometimes we use bad judgement. Sometimes we have the wrong info. Sometimes we don’t have all the facts. Sometimes an unexpected and undesirable influence shows up that causes us to veer off track. Sometimes we forget.

Whatever the reason, mistakes happen and can look bad. No one wants to look bad, especially in front of a boss, higher-ups, or investors. Sometimes we might try to deflect from our mistakes. We might blame someone or something else, create a diversion, downplay the effects. 

But the truth is, it’s always best to confess to mistakes—and fast. As I like to say: Always eat crow while it’s still warm. The colder the crow gets, the harder it is to choke down.

Not confessing to a mistake can make the mistake worse. It can deepen, fester and spread. Or perhaps we have to tell more lies to cover our tracks…until we lose track of our lies, and now we’re making mistakes with our lies. Or the guilt becomes burdensome, so much so that you want to come clean. But you know, you will look even worse confessing the mistake days, weeks, months later. 

In time, the weight of the mistake and the cover-up can impact our perception. It can distort our decision-making and drag our productivity. All of a sudden, one mistake, no matter how big or small, creates loads of baggage. Is it worth it? Never.

It may feel easier in the moment to avoid copping to the mistake, but it’s never easier in the long run. By contrast, telling someone you messed up feels hard in the moment but makes everything easier and better in the long run.

Admitting mistakes quickly tends to soften their sting. Humility becomes a fresh, digestible experience when embraced quickly, before resentments and defensiveness take root. Swift accountability frees the mind of conflict and helps improve our thinking, analysis and decision-making. And it often earns respect and admiration.

Always eat crow while it’s still warm. The colder the crow gets, the harder it is to choke down.

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Hope these insights are helpful. 

We at Leyendecker have been doing search work for 40 years. We’ve completed over 100 C-level searches, most for CFOs. Most have been PE portfolio companies, but we’ve also helped owner/managed and publicly-held companies. Our placements have helped their employers go through almost 50 successful liquidity events.  

Keep us in mind when you seek talent that will get you over the goal line! Hope you have a great year!

Doug