Texas Ranger outfielder Josh Hamilton recently made sports headlines when he relapsed from his drug and alcohol treatment program.  Although celebrity relapse is not new, I thought the way he handled it was.

In an era when politicians and celebrities find it impossible to accept responsibility – instead, blaming others for all bad things that happen, Josh got up in front of the microphone the next day and said, “I messed up. I hurt people. I let down people who lean on me.”

You can argue all day about Josh’s baseball talent. He has been injured a lot and had some very average years. But in this case, he came through victorious.

Alcohol and drug recovery is a one-day-at-a-time game. I have a little experience in that game. Sometimes, when you feel vulnerable and weak, you have to put your game face on and be vigilant about relapse.  Apparently, Josh wasn’t.

But rather than be quick to judge him for why it occurred.  I am quick to judge how he handled it.

We sales people and business leaders can take a page from the Hamilton playbook when it comes to accepting responsibility, taking the blame and doing it in a ‘stand-up, head-on’ way. Wouldn’t it be refreshing if some of our politicians had the courage to stand up and say, “I screwed up by voting for that bill. I messed up. I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m sorry I hurt people inadvertently.”

Wouldn’t that be refreshing–especially if it came from the heart?

Or wouldn’t it be nice if a company leader had the bravery to stand up in front of the executive team and admit an error in judgement? Or, if a sales person who wasn’t achieving at the level he/she desired, to stand up and admit that it’s, “all on me” instead of blaming the pricing, the website, the customer demands, the weather?

Or, if a sales manager would go into the President’s office and accept responsibility for weak sales performance instead of blaming his sales team? Or, if a customer service person would admit that they screwed up the shipping instructions?

As we go about our day in our business lives, check out when we take accountability and when we shirk it. It probably would surprise us. The great paradox is that we think it’s a strategy of strength to never admit errors. But it’s quite the opposite.