How to survive a dumb thing you did to your boss

Done right, you can rebound and actually end up with an improved relationship

You have just done something that makes your boss look bad. Perhaps it was an action that involved him directly, or a remark about a valued client. You meant no offense. Really. But now you need to handle this common misstep correctly to avoid any lasting damage to your career.

I call such inadvertent blunders an "eggface." My latest yolk splatter came at an office cocktail party I attended this summer with a younger colleague. He had just accepted a promotion to become my supervisor. I have always worked for someone older.

"I guess now you report to him," commented a co-worker chatting with us.

"Actually, he reports to me," I replied reflexively. My boss-to-be smiled wanly.

Struggling to recover, I stammered, "Uh, we’re peers."

Done right, you can rebound from such an embarrassing moment and actually end up with a better relationship with your boss, says Joseph Grenny, president of VitalSmarts, a leadership and training firm in Provo, and a co-author of the recent book "Crucial Confrontations."

By Joann Lublin
The Wall Street Journal

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