A friend of mine who runs a successful practice shared a story with me recently that stopped me in my tracks. I asked if I could share it with you because I think every tax professional with a team needs to hear this.
One of his assistants made a mistake.
It cost the company $20,000.
The moment she realized what happened, she came to him in tears, apologizing profusely.
His response? “It happens. So what are we going to do next time?”
That’s all he said.
She was stunned. “How are you not mad at me?”
His answer was simple: “Me being mad at you doesn’t accomplish anything. You’re already mad at yourself.”
Here’s What Most Practice Owners Don’t Understand
When a team member makes a mistake, your role as the leader is not to point out the mistake and explain why it was wrong. In the heat of the moment, they take it personally.
Instead, show your team members where they are in terms of skill set and where they need to be to prevent these errors from happening.
Yelling at someone who already knows they messed up is lazy leadership.
It’s self-indulgent venting. It makes YOU feel better while making them feel worse. And it changes absolutely nothing about what already happened.
So my friend sat down with her and worked through what he now calls The Mistake Protocol:
Step 1: Acknowledge Without Emotion
“It happens.”
Not “It’s fine” (because $20,000 isn’t fine). Not “How could you?” (because that’s not helpful). Just acknowledgment that mistakes are part of business.
Step 2: Skip the Blame
She was already punishing herself. Adding his disappointment wouldn’t un-spend the money. It would just make her more likely to hide the next mistake.
Step 3: Focus Forward
“What’s the plan for next time?”
This is where the learning happens. Not in the shame spiral, but in the solution building.
Step 4: Document the Learning
They turned her mistake into a system improvement. Now nobody else can make that same $20,000 mistake because they built a process to prevent it.
Here’s What Happened Next
That assistant became one of his most loyal team members. She’s caught three other potentially costly mistakes before they happened. She’s the first to admit when something’s wrong because she knows he won’t punish honesty.
And that $20,000 mistake? It probably saved them $200,000 in future mistakes because of the systems they built from it.
But Here’s What Would Have Happened If He’d Yelled
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She would have been looking for a new job within a month.
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She would have hidden future mistakes until they got worse.
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The rest of his team would have learned to cover things up.
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They would have lost the learning that prevented future losses.
The Leadership Lesson for Your Tax Practice
Your job as a leader isn’t to punish mistakes. It’s to point out the gap between where they are and where they need to be.
When someone drops the ball, they already know they’re at Point A when they should be at Point B. Screaming at them doesn’t move them to Point B. It just makes them hate being at Point A.
The real question is: Do you want to feel better, or do you want better results?
Because yelling gives you the first one. The Mistake Protocol gives you the second.
Try This the Next Time Someone on Your Team Makes a Mistake
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Instead of asking “How could you let this happen?” → Ask “What’s the plan for next time?”
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Instead of saying “This is unacceptable” → Say “What system could have prevented this?”
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Instead of making them feel stupid → Make them part of the solution
The Bottom Line
The mistakes aren’t the problem. It’s what happens after the mistake that determines whether you’re building a culture of excellence or a culture of fear.
Mistakes happen. What are we going to do next time?
Try this at home with your kids or any other position of leadership you have. People make mistakes. We are human after all. It’s what we do after making these mistakes that defines us.
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Here’s to working smarter, not harder!
And a brighter future for your tax practice!
If you want to know more consider joining the Tax Resolution Academy® by clicking this link to earn your Certified Taxpayer Representative™ (CTR™) certification
I hope this helps.
If you have any questions, please reach out to us.
I would love to hear your thoughts, challenges, and successes in writing your very own book.
Have a GREAT day,
Cordially,
Dan
Dan Henn, CPA, CTR™
Co-Founder, Tax Resolution Academy®
Managing Member
Tax Pro Academy, LLC
P.S. Want to learn more about the Tax Resolution Academy®, go to https://community.taxresolutionacademy.com.
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