A few weeks ago, Magic Johnson stepped down as president of basketball operations of the Los Angeles Lakers. During an impromptu press conference, Johnson said he decided to walk away from the job because he didn’t like the some of the negative talk surrounding the team and his performance in the role. To that end, he said some of the criticism he received surrounding drafting players and fines that were given to him for tampering with players – talking to players on other teams during the season – were not his fault. He claimed, “I did nothing wrong.”
But in reality, he did several things wrong. He did tamper with players. He undermined the head coach early in the season by publicly insinuating the coach’s job could be in danger if things didn’t go well. And one of his last wrong-doings was not letting the owner of the Lakers know ahead of time that he was resigning. The owner learned he was stepping down when the rest of the public learned – during the press conference. That’s just wrong!
During the press conference, Johnson acted though everything was roses and puppy dogs. He said the team was going in an upward trajectory. That’s definitely not the case. The Lakers missed the playoffs even though LeBron James, one of the best players in the world, was on the team. The team has issues.
My question: Why don’t people just tell the truth? Just say ‘I made some mistakes and I want the team to have someone who can dedicate all their time to this job.’ And this goes for everyone. Admit you could have done a better job. There’s no harm in admitting you screwed up. I think people respect you more when you acknowledge your faults. We have all made mistakes in jobs, relationships, etc.
So, swallow your pride, and fess up when you screw up. No one is perfect.