In a reply to a tweet by Sawyer Merritt yesterday, Elon admitted that in the case of a $1.5 million settlement suit that related to EV charging, Tesla was wrong. To me, this is a bold and courageous move. It’s hard to admit when you’re wrong. In the above-mentioned suit, Tesla agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle claims about a software update that temporarily reduced maximum battery voltage in 1,743 Model S vehicles.
If we are wrong, we are wrong. In this case, we were.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 31, 2021
Elon followed up his tweet with another, stating that Tesla’s policy is to never give in to false claims even if Tesla would likely lose the case, but also to never fight true claims even if they would probably win. This actually says a lot about Elon’s integrity, honesty, and ability to own up to his mistakes — in front of millions online.
Tesla policy is never to give in to false claims, even if we would lose, and never to fight true claims, even if we would win.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 31, 2021
Admitting You Are Wrong ≠ Admitting Defeat Or Admitting You Are “Bad”
Many are taught from a young age that being wrong is a “bad” thing, and that if you’re wrong, you’re a “bad” person. Now, people don’t actually tell you this, but they use subconscious signals such as tones of voice, facial expressions, and body language to program youngsters. Your brain is like a computer, and when you’re told over and over by adults while you’re a child that you’re bad, or that is implied whenever you are wrong about something, you begin to believe this.
Enter Elon Musk
For me, Elon’s stance on failure was revolutionary and life-changing. He has said many times and in many ways that it’s okay to fail, and that you are not a bad person for failing. If one of the most successful people in the world has this stance on failure, maybe more of us should.
It’s his mentality here that, I think, is why he was able to take to Twitter and admit he and Tesla were wrong in this particular case. In any case, his ability to own up to a mistake publicly — while knowing his critics and many of those in the media who are itching to write market-moving articles about him are waiting for this moment — is brave and admirable.
Why Elon Musk Is The Best CEO For Tesla
Look at Tesla and its mission. When Tesla first began, it was the butt of many a joke posed by legacy automakers. Under Elon’s leadership, Tesla went through some major growing pains, boldly danced on the edge of the cliff of failure several times, then jumped off. Many thought Tesla would fail as a company. After it jumped off that cliff, Tesla learned to fly and today is soaring as the leader of the auto industry — while blossoming into something the world has never seen before.
Elon’s passion is doing whatever he can to ensure that humanity survives and becomes multi-planetary. In order for us to be the latter, we have to live to see that. We can’t do that if we destroy this planet. This is why his work with Tesla is critical. He may hate being CEO, but right now, if he wants to achieve his mission in life, he needs to do this, and he’s doing it well.
For someone to lead Tesla the way he has, that person needs to know when they are wrong (in more than one instance), admit that, and move on while making things right. Additionally, they need to look at any mistakes as learning blocks and not as bad things that reflect upon them personally.
Society teaches us that being wrong is wrong, and that it does reflect upon you as a person. Elon teaches us that it’s okay to be wrong sometimes, own up to it, and move on. When you are true to yourself, you are then able to realize your goals and learn from your mistakes. This is what makes Elon a great leader for Tesla and a role model for those struggling to fight the harsh mentalities of failure, being wrong, and defeat that have been programmed into us.
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