These days, you can't seem to turn on a television in the Toronto area without seeing one commercial pop up.
There's Erin Davis in a sunny café, coffee cup in hand, announcing her return to the morning show on Toronto radio station CHFI-FM, owned by Rogers Communications Inc.
"You know, some things just feel right -- the people, the music and the way you've welcomed me back. Thank you," she smiles.
Ms. Davis, ousted two years ago, has been back on the air since Sept. 6, after the station was deluged with protests from listeners who fired off angry e-mails, turned their radio dials in droves and sent the station's ratings into a decline.
Behind Ms. Davis's dismissal was Julie Adam, the general manager and program director of CHFI, who fired the light-rock station's drive-time star in June, 2003, replacing her with a pair of urban hipsters, then known as Mad Dog and Billie, from a sister Rogers station with an edgier sound.
And behind Ms. Davis's return is the same Ms. Adam, who not only wooed her back but admitted "I made a mistake. A big one" as part of a public apology posted on the station's website to the radio star and her fans.
Publicity stunt? Not so, Ms. Adam says. Rather, it's her way of acknowledging that she goofed -- and goofed badly -- and is righting her wrong.
Managers who admit the error of their ways are still about as rare as winning two lotteries in a week, career experts say. And they applaud Ms. Adam's way of handling hers.
Managers who own up to their mistakes, apologize and learn from them, rather than covering them up, will find that it works in their favour, says Dorothy Hutt, director of the Ottawa office of executive coaching firm Collaborative Leadership Institute Inc.
"With all that is happening in the world, people are asking for leaders to be more responsible for their actions, and there is a real hunger for leaders who inspire. When openness is real, it generates trust and people will be inspired to do their best," Ms. Hutt says.
And because such honesty is so rare, it can give you an advantage.
"If you are skillful and honest, you are going to impress people and you will stand out."
The demand for more openness in owning up to mistakes comes in the wake of corporate scandals and political cover-ups, as well as a renewed focus in organizations on team-building and collaboration, she says.
Managers are also coming to the realization that they have to do whatever they can to hold on to top talent in a very competitive job market, adds Greg Ford, vice-president of the Vancouver region for national recruiting firm David Aplin & Associates.
And trust is one of the key factors in retaining employee loyalty, he says.
"In my experience, apologizing profusely to employees is not something that leaders do easily, but they are realizing they have to learn." That's because distrust is widespread. For instance, a survey by Discovery Group, a Sharon, Mass.-based company specializing in employee opinion surveys, found that 70 per cent of the 50,000 employees polled at 58 large U.S. companies last year said they felt they have been lied to by their bosses, and 52 per cent said they don't believe the information they receive from management.
Ms. Adam says she has "learned more from this one experience than I have in my 16 years in this business. I have found that being upfront and forthcoming, regardless of whether it is good or bad news, is rewarding to you and your customers."
A leadership that frowns on admitting mistakes is doomed to stagnate, says Gilles Brouillette, director of the Collaborative Leadership Institute's Montreal office.
Justifying blunders rather than owning up to them can end up taking so much time and effort that eventually a manager can't look forward and will become averse to the risk-taking needed for growth, he says.
"Being able to admit you made a misjudgment and talking publicly about it allows you to learn from the error and avoid making it again."
But to do that means breaking down a stigma against fallibility in managers, says Norman Grosman, a partner in the Toronto employment law firm Grosman Grosman and Gale LLP.
"I can't overstate what an exception the CHFI situation is to the rule," Mr. Grosman says. "It's human nature to spend a lot of effort justifying your decision and not go back on it. Nobody likes to admit they are bad decision makers."
In her web-site letter to listeners, Ms. Adam was blunt: "Have you ever made a mistake at work? Well, about two years ago, I made a mistake. A big one."
She says the apology was entirely her idea and not intended to stir up publicity although it did receive great support from listeners -- and her own boss.
Sandy Sanderson, executive vice-president of Toronto radio for Rogers, admits he was taken aback when Ms. Adam came to him with the idea of issuing a public explanation and apology.
"It's just not the way we did things. It didn't make sense competitively to show your hand to the competition."
But thinking about it, he says, "I decided it made nothing but sense. I said fine, let's do it."
He was "flabbergasted at the positive reaction we got in countless e-mails from fans," at least 98 per cent of them praising the decision to bring Ms. Davis back, he says.
Even the most inbred culture of "don't admit and don't apologize" can be changed, Mr. Brouillette says.
How? He suggests leaders start by making a list of their decisions that, in hindsight, they wish they had made differently. Then, he advises, pick one decision as a test case to own up to and see what reaction you get from employees.
"It can take courage to hold a meeting with key employees and say: 'I realize I have a tendency to cover up or deny blame and I realize it is having an effect on you. I welcome feedback from you on what we can do together to look at this and come up with practices that are more open in the future,' " Mr. Brouillette suggests.
Posting the outcome of discussions or acknowledgments of errors on a company bulletin board or intranet can open further discussion and emphasize that trust is recognized as a major concern, he says.
"With time, you will find employees are less defensive and more accepting of change."
And the more you can communicate that it is all right to make mistakes and learn from them, the more innovative an entire organization can be, Mr. Brouillette says.
"If you start with the assumption that you don't have to be right all the time, and you are willing to correct things when they go wrong, it will make people more open to share their ideas. And this also creates an inner process that can open you to fresh approaches."
Ms. Adam agrees. "I think you should be able to make mistakes and admit to making them and not beat yourself up and have regrets and wish things never happened. It's important to own up to it and move on.
"I don't regret anything I did. You are never going to get anywhere in life if you don't try things and I never want to be the kind of person who is not willing to try new things."
The experience has also taught her to be kinder and gentler in letting people go. Ms. Adam says she arranged a farewell tribute show for the duo who replaced Ms. Davis on their last day on air. And, she says, "we are doing our best" to land the performers, now billed as Jay and Billie, a show in another of the Rogers chain of 42 radio stations.
There were e-mails from listeners who thought Ms. Adam should have been fired. "And, you know what, they are probably right," she says. "I am very lucky.
"I guess the main lesson from all of this is honesty works. And that's good for me," Ms. Adam concludes, "because I'm a lousy liar."