I feel very strongly about “owning” your mistakes and being public about the error and the corrections that are made.
I don’t intend being verbal or open regarding an error, to be mistaken for “airing of dirty laundry in public”. As a leader I think it’s important to show your humanity. It’s critical for your leadership to be a beacon for your fellow employees to use as a guide regarding behavior and operating characteristics.
Being totally OPEN with your team is not always possible, HR, business plans, security contracts, NDA prevent you from informing the team of every detail, some secrets have to be kept. This fact can cause your team to feel less connected and more skeptical and inaccurately justify the idea that secrets are OK and they may begin keeping secrets from you too! …. You might not be able to be open however you can be HONEST.
Being honest, admitting you made a mistake and being open about it will help your team see you are human, make mistakes and are not afraid to show it…. and I know it’s obvious, this is what you would like your team to do, and you must do the same with an additional level of effort. Gaining trust and open communications is a lengthy process, takes time and has to be earned. If people don’t feel safe, it’s unlikely you will get the whole truth and nothing but the truth.