An interesting exchange occurred on Twitter last week. PRCog tweeted: “Dear Millenials – ‘OMG’ does not replace ‘I’m sorry’.” Debbie Lyons-Blythe followed up with “’my bad’ not enuf either!”

As a Millennial myself, I couldn’t agree more. You see it daily at the gym, the office and just about everywhere else: people have stopped apologizing. I’m not sure when apologizing stopped being the right, not to mention polite and professional, thing to do. There is nothing wrong with admitting a mistake. It’s the best way to learn.

Your boss and co-workers are more likely to respect you, if you own up to your mistakes. When I’ve royally messed up, I’ve walked into my boss’s office, apologized and told him what steps have been taken to ensure the same mistake won’t happen again. Then we discussed it and moved on. Continue reading →