No matter how beautifully executed a plan, there are bound to be things that just don’t happen quite how you envisioned. Not so long ago, I implemented a brand new webinar.

A few hours prior to the webinar, we discovered the technology was not going to work as planned. Just prior to the scheduled time, the webinar had to be cancelled because the system wasn’t working. On one hand, as a systems guru, that was a hard pill to swallow. On the other hand, I had to just laugh at the irony of it all.

At some point in building your business, a similar breakdown will happen. The key is to turn that experience into a teaching moment. So the next time you have a link that doesn’t work, an embarrassing typo, or a technology snafu, simply apologize.

You may even find that your experience is a great example for you to write about in an article, use as an example in an upcoming speech to illustrate a point, or for use in your next training video. When you do, you might just find out, like I did, how wonderfully forgiving and compassionate members of your community really are.

When you share those lessons, it not only instills a greater connection with your community, it becomes a useful teaching moment for everyone.