Welcome to the Judge Academy module on When Mistakes Happen. In this module, we’ll talk about the reality that mistakes will be made, the contexts in which they’ll be made, some causes of mistakes, and what to do when you or someone else makes a mistake.

And I do mean “when”, because we all will.

You will make mistakes. You’ll make them every day. One of the tough parts of being a higher-level judge is that people will assume you don’t. After all, you’re an experienced leader – why would someone get to that level if they make mistakes? Well, it turns out people have the causality backwards.

The more you judge, the more mistakes you make. The harder your tasks, the more mistakes you’ll make. And the more leadership opportunities you have, the more opportunities you have to make serious mistakes that affect more than just one match. I’m not saying this to scare you – I’m saying it because it’s a reality, and if you understand it, you can communicate it to the people who mistakenly think leaders and experts don’t make mistakes.