The courage to admit mistakes.

Some years ago I was visited by the then American ambassador to the Court of St. James, Philip

Leida. He told me of a fascinating project he and his wife had initiated in 1981.

They'd come to realize that many of their contemporaries would find themselves in positions of influence and power in the not too distant future.

He thought it would be useful and creative if they were to come together for a study retreat every so often,

to share ideas, listen to experts and form friendships, thinking through collectively the challenges they would face in the coming years.

So they created what they called Renaissance weekends. They still happen.

The most interesting thing he told me was that they discovered that the participants, all exceptionally gifted people,

found one thing particularly difficult, namely admitting that they made mistakes.

The leaders understood that this was something important they had to learn.

Leaders above all should be capable of acknowledging when and how they had erred,

or how to put it right. They came up with

a brilliant idea. They set aside a session at each weekend for a talk given by a recognized

star in some field on the subject of my biggest blooper. Being English, not American, I had to ask

for a translation. I discovered that a blupa

is an embarrassing mistake, a gaff, a faux pa, a bungle, a boo-boo, a fashla, a bullagun,

something you shouldn't have done and are ashamed to admit you did. This, in essence, is what Yom Kippur is in Judaism. In tabernacle and temple times,

it was the day when the holiest man in Israel, a high priest, made atonement, first for his own sins,

then for the sins of his house, then for the sins of all Israel. From the day the temple was

destroyed, we've had no high priest

nor the rights he performed, but we still have the day and the ability to confess and pray

for forgiveness. It's so much easier to admit your sins, failings and mistakes when other people

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