Last week, I wrote about what to do when you make a mistake. What about when you are a leader and someone on your team makes a mistake?

A mistake can become bigger than it needs to be when a leader acts too strongly or harshly. The response to the initial mistake has a bigger impact than the mistake itself. The tone shifts, and patience disappears. What could have been a learning moment becomes a moment people want to avoid repeating at all costs. As a result, instead of taking risks employees are fearful of trying anything new, or just fearful in general.

And what employees learn is not how to improve, but how to stay emotionally safe.

In some situations a leader might say nothing at all. They often hope the problem will resolve itself, or they don’t want to make the employee feel bad.

When nothing is said, nothing is learned and the opportunity for discussion and trust is lost.

Another problem I see over and over is leaders creating a policy from a single moment. This comes up more than you might expect.

I was working with a team that enjoyed a flexible work policy, something employees valued and leadership felt good about offering. One person took advantage of the flexibility in a way that was dishonest and egregious. Of course this was a legitimate issue that needed to be addressed with that employee, along with disciplinary action. Instead of leadership having the courage to discipline and take action against the individual, the conversation quickly shifted to: “Maybe we should just get rid of flexibility altogether.”

One incident, however problematic, became the basis for undoing something that was working well for everyone else. This was primarily because leadership was too timid to do the hard work of leading.

When someone on your team makes a mistake, before you respond, ask yourself:

• What do I want them to learn from this?

• How do I want them to show up next time?

• Will my response help or shut that down?

• How do I want to be perceived when mistakes are made?

Handled poorly, mistakes are something people hide. Handled correctly, they are a valuable opportunity for discussion, learning, and growth for your team.