It happens more often than you think; a deadline is missed, a call isn’t returned, a deliverable isn’t met. Sometimes the “whoops” is obvious. You watch the CEO apologize for an inaccurate data point on your division slide presentation. Other times, you learn about an issue directly from your leader; as in the “we-need-to-fix-this-now-or-it-will-reflect-poorly-on-the-team” conversation.

Bottom line. No one likes to miss the mark. But when it’s your supervisor…