Courage at work sounds like: “I made a mistake on the order. Here’s how I’m fixing it.”

Most instinct at work pushes toward hiding an error and hoping it passes unnoticed or gets absorbed by somebody else. What that costs you is the chance to be known as the person who handles things. Reporting it yourself with the fix attached turns a mistake into evidence that you can be trusted with more. The fix is the important half; an admission on its own just leaves the problem on someone else’s desk.

Next time you get something wrong, say it the same day, in two parts: what happened, and what you are doing about it. Skip the apology tour and do the second part.