CHICAGO — No matter what stage you are in during your career, it can be challenging to take accountability for mistakes. And while knowing how to hold yourself and others accountable is a strong leadership skill, it also helps to reframe errors as opportunities for growth.
As renowned leadership coach Marshall Goldsmith would say, “People are more inclined to pass the buck than they are to take responsibility. The fact is, though, passing the buck doesn’t build your character or give you the opportunity to learn from your mistakes.”
Making mistakes, especially when you’re just starting out in your career, is normal — but it’s important to know how to turn that experience into a positive outcome and use it to be better for the next time. To learn how to best navigate these situations, Trade Show Executive checked in with some industry leaders to hear about their experience of taking accountability and how young professionals can reframe mistakes as learning opportunities.
Maria Leidner, Senior Director, Attendee Experience at RX
Maria Leidner shared that in her first year as a marketing director, she made the classic mistake of being so focused on execution that she overlooked a key detail in planning. The team had decided to expand its social media strategy and brought on a social media agency, but when it came to finalizing the budgets, she had realized she had forgotten to allocate funds for the agency’s costs.
“As soon as I realized, I knew I had to tell my event director right away,” Leidner said. “As someone new in the role, I was really nervous. I didn’t want him to think I wasn’t capable or detail oriented. At our next weekly, I brought it up directly, admitted my mistake and apologized. Thankfully, he was completely understanding and said, ‘No sweat, we’ll find it.’”
In the end, Leidner was prepared to reallocate funds from other line items, and with her director’s support, they combined that with some budget flexibility to cover the expense. What she thought would be a major setback became a valuable lesson in being transparent and resourceful.
“I’ve learned that accountability and growth go hand in hand,” Leidner said. “Mistakes can happen but what matters is how you respond. Accountability builds trust, and trust is what makes you more effective as a leader and teammate.”
When it comes to how she personally turns setbacks into opportunities, she shared: “If I make a mistake, I make a point to pause, own it, and then focus on a solution. What did I learn from the setback and how can I improve in the future? It’s also a reminder that accountability doesn’t mean having all the answers! You have to be willing to ask for help if you need it and find the best path forward.”
Lauren Ocoma, Group Vice President, Brand Strategy and Commercial Development, Clarion Fire & Rescue Portfolio
In her first year out of college, Lauren Ocoma was responsible for deploying mass email communications for event registration.
“At the time, the technology we used was not as advanced, and I made a key error — I failed to suppress a list of recipients who were already registered for the event,” Ocoma said. “As a result, some people received an email prompting them to register, even though they had already done so. This was a clear personalization mistake.”
Ocoma took action right away, communicating with upper management about the mistake. By then, the issue was already evident due to an influx of customer service inquiries asking for confirmation of registration status.
“Honestly, I could have blamed the technology, but it was important to own the error and learn from it,” she said.
Even though it was uncomfortable, Ocoma’s boss at the time was supportive and encouraged her to slow down and double-check her work in the future.
“We quickly worked together to craft a follow-up ‘oops’ email to clarify the confusion and reassure recipients about their registration status. This approach helped us turn a mistake into a positive customer touchpoint,” Ocoma said. “Ultimately, the situation was resolved without lasting issues, and it became a valuable learning experience for our team.”
Ocoma also shared that one of the biggest lessons she’s learned about accountability in the workplace is the importance of cultivating a culture where blame is not the focus.
“I strive to create an environment where my team feels supported and empowered to not only share wins but be honest with ourselves on areas for improvement,” Ocoma said. “By encouraging experimentation and collective problem-solving, we drive meaningful change and continuous improvement in our business. Knowing that I have my team’s back, and my executive leader has mine, allows us all to take calculated risks and grow together.”
When it comes to how Ocoma views mistakes and setbacks, she said: “I view setbacks as chances to be transparent and foster growth. Transparent leadership is a driving force in my career — I believe in openly discussing challenges, collaborating with my team to find solutions, and using each experience to improve. One motto I share with my team is, ‘If it’s not broke, break it.’ This encourages us to challenge the status quo, even when things are going well, so we remain adaptable and innovative. Embracing change, even when it’s uncomfortable, helps us build resilience for the future.”
Ren Akinci, Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer, Emerald
TSE also connected with Ren Akinci about the advice she would give young professionals on this topic.
MADDY: You mentioned the concept of failing fast and pivoting quickly. As a leader, how do you go about fostering a culture where people feel comfortable doing that?
REN: I encourage people to make their own decisions instead of assuming they need to run everything by me. Most of the time, people already know the right answer, they just want their manager’s validation so they don’t risk making a choice their manager might not like. But growth doesn’t come from always playing it safe.
People need to exercise their trust muscle, trusting themselves to decide, and trusting that if they make the wrong call, at least they’ll learn from it. That’s how you build confidence and adaptability.
Now, if your job is literally to save lives, my answer would of course be different. But if you’re in a business context, this is the way I approach it.
MADDY: In thinking about advice you’d give an early-career professional, how would you ideally approach a conversation with a manager when you’ve hit a significant roadblock or failure?
REN: I think the best advice is honesty and humility. Too many people, at every level, are afraid to admit when they’ve made a mistake. The reality is: Everyone around them usually knows it already. They’re just waiting for the person to acknowledge it and move forward.
What gets in the way is ego or sometimes a lack of self-awareness. But the longer you dodge accountability, the bigger the issue becomes. At the end of the day, people just want you to own it, apologize if needed or lay out a plan to fix it. Then move on.
Don’t let problems linger because you’re trying to protect yourself. Have humility. Apologize. Learn. Tomorrow is always another day.
MADDY: Even in a culture where failure isn’t necessarily looked at as a fully negative thing, it can be hard for those close to the project to face that, I’d imagine. How do you encourage team members to move past the failure to get to a solution or new opportunity?
REN: I think the most important thing is not letting failure scare you from trying again. If people start associating failure with personal risk or embarrassment, they’ll hesitate the next time an opportunity comes up. Hesitation kills innovation and momentum. Of course, you should always study what went wrong and make a point to digest and learn from the data that is available.
Ask the questions: What worked? What didn’t? What do we now know that we didn’t before? Once you treat it as part of the process, it loses its power to paralyze you.
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