The Wall Street Journal yesterday compiled apologies offered this week from leaders of several tech firms as they announced staffing cuts (“Tech Founders Apologize for Growing Too Fast”).

• “I got this wrong and I take responsibility for that.” Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook parent Meta Platforms, announcing that it would cut 11,000 workers.
• “I grew the company size too quickly. I apologize for that.” Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter, after its new owner announced a 50% staff cut.
• “I take responsibility for choosing to grow our team faster. And now I also own the decision…resulting in this layoff.” Jeff Lawson, CEO of Twilio, announcing a cut of 11% of the company’s workforce.
• “I’m sorry. That’s the biggest thing. I [screwed] up and should have done better.” Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of troubled crypto exchange FTX, detailing its swift decline. Mr. Bankman-Fried offered another apology as he resigned today.

These apologies meet the basic criteria: acknowledgement of wrongdoing – in this case, errors in judgment – coupled with personal responsibility. To their credit, the apology was followed by a period. If the speaker added more – as Mr. Zuckerberg did –, it sounded more like explanation than excuse, because he led with the apology, followed by a period.

It’s easier for corporations to issue statements in passive voice – “mistakes were made.” To their credit, these leaders spoke in first-person.

Hopefully the full text of each apology also includes an acknowledgement of the harm done – in this case, to employees, many of whom were hired just in the last two years. Ideally, an apology would also include a statement of how the offender intends to fix things, and to avoid similar mistakes in the future.