The worst mistake

Verónica Elizabeth Pozo Ruiz
Great question. And one that deserves honest reflection.
The worst mistake I made as a project manager wasn’t technical - it was relational.

Early in my career, I underestimated the importance of emotional signals and silence during a stakeholder meeting.
A key sponsor remained unusually quiet, but I focused only on the agenda, deliverables, and timeline.
I interpreted silence as agreement.

Weeks later, that silence turned into resistance.
Misalignment had grown in the background, and by the time it surfaced, it required damage control, rework, and a lot of lost trust to rebuild.

How I corrected it?

- I owned the mistake publicly with the team. No blame, just responsibility.
- I set up regular informal check-ins with that sponsor to build psychological safety and open dialogue.
- I committed to becoming deeply present in meetings.
Listening not just to words, but to tone, emotion, and what’s not being said.

Since then, I’ve learned that trust and presence are not soft skills - they are core infrastructure for any successful project.
Deliverables come and go.
Relationships are what sustain impact.

Thanks for sparking such a powerful reflection.

I never regret a decision I made, because I cannot undo it. I try not to live in the past, but in the present. Every decision has consequences, and I have to live with them, which I do. The consequences may be beneficial or detrimental (to me and others), in most cases, you can turn them into something positive and mitigate the bad consequences.

In this sense, I never made a mistake.
Not regretting also has the benefit of mitigating emotions of guilt and shame.