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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Is it unprofessional of me to not say sorry when I messed up? I accept full responsibility and take corrective actions when I make a mistake, but I just don't (can't or won't?) say "sorry" to apologize for it. Today for instance my team messed up big time (but not catastrophic) and almost negatively impacted a coworker's delivery (it would've if not for her incredible talent and experience). Postmortem I think I did everything a responsible person would do, but I felt my coworker was expecting a "sorry" which I never offered (I did say a quick sorry to her when "the wheels started coming off the wagon."), and I think she's still pissed by that. By not saying sorry, am I subconsciously refusing to accept all responsibility?[/quote]

Saying sorry is a courtesy, not a requirement.  Yes, you are owning up to your mistake and making amends work-wise, but you aren't extending your co-workers the appropriate courtesy in apologizing for your contribution to the mess that caused them a lot of extra work to remediate.  Think of it this way, they'll understand that you do the work and act professional, but they may not like you or really care about you.  This creates the atmosphere that when you need a favor, no one will volunteer to do it for you because no one feels they need to step up for you.  Over my professional career, I have seen people like you and while they are respected for their work, no one feels the need to do nice things for them and they ultimately end up feeling like it's just a workplace and not a particularly good one.  Conversely the people who do step up, do the courtesies, act polite on top of professional, end up liking their workplaces more and often get side benefits from people who are willing to bend over backwards to help them.

Continue as you are, but don't expect your coworkers to go out of their way for you.[/quote]

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