Early in my career, my colleagues and I used to play gully cricket outside the office after work. Our concrete pitch was small, just 10 feet wide and 15 feet long, and the rules were unique—batsmen didn’t need to run, and a one-bounce catch was still an out. Each evening, sharp at 5 pm, we would gather with great energy for short matches that sometimes stretched until 7 pm.
The games were a perfect blend of joy and competitiveness, and those moments are some of my most cherished memories. One day, during an intense match, I was on the sidelines cheering my team. We were about to win when I made a playful comment to a respected leader who was on the opposite team.
The comment irritated him, and in a moment of frustration, he threw the ball at me with a lot of force. The ball narrowly missed my face and I felt like a rocket passing by. The atmosphere changed instantly, and everyone felt uneasy. I was shocked and wondered how someone I admired and looked up to as a leader could ever behave like this.
However, I quickly realized my comment had triggered his reaction, so I tried to move on. After the match, I struggled to focus on work as the incident replayed in my mind. Sensing my restlessness, the leader stepped out and returned half an hour later.
He called me to his cabin and handed me a card that read, “I am sorry.” With tears in his eyes, he hugged me and said, “I am human too. I lost control and acted out of anger. I feel ashamed. I’m truly sorry.”
This moment shattered the myth that leaders can’t admit mistakes without losing authority. He didn’t just preach values—he lived by them, showing that owning mistakes is a mark of true leadership.
