The art of saying sorry in business: Why restraint, humility and intent matter more than visibility

There is a quiet irony in corporate life. Organisations invest years and substantial budgets in building trust, credibility, and brand goodwill. Yet, when something goes wrong, many struggle with the most basic human response of all: saying sorry.

The recent IndiGo episode brought this into sharp focus. Apologies arrived publicly and in full view. It unfolded in stages. Full-page ads led the way. The CEO followed, then returned. And soon enough, the chairman of the board was saying sorry too. On paper, it looked comprehensive. In reality, for all those passengers who were affected and for the many watching from the outside, it felt uneasy. The apologies were visible, but the connection was missing.

That discomfort is worth pausing on, not to single out one company, but to reflect on a larger truth. In business, apologising is rarely about the absence of words. It is about the absence of meaning.

One of the most common mistakes organisations make is treating an apology as a communication deliverable. When that happens, sorry becomes engineered. Filtered. Rehearsed. The intent may be genuine, but the outcome feels transactional. Audiences hear the words, yet struggle to feel the intent behind them.

In everyday life, an apology works because it is simple. You acknowledge what went wrong. You accept the discomfort. You do not over-explain. In corporate life, apologies are often weighed down by qualifiers and context. Phrases such as “if anyone was inconvenienced” or “we regret the situation” may be legally safe, but they are emotionally empty. Customers are not looking for a legal brief. They are looking for understanding.

Understanding means acknowledging how the failure felt, not just what failed.

Another misconception is that repetition builds sincerity. It does not.

When organisations repeatedly apologise through different leaders and in multiple formats, the message blurs. What initially appears responsive can quickly feel anxious. Stakeholders begin to wonder whether the organisation is apologising because it truly understands the issue, or because it is worried that perception could spiral out of control.

Often, one clear, well-timed apology carries far more weight than several attempts to course-correct in public.

Leadership visibility also needs careful handling. Senior leaders stepping forward matters, but presence alone does not guarantee credibility. Video apologies, in particular, leave little room for artifice. Audiences are remarkably good at sensing when emotion is present and when it has been rehearsed.

In some situations, the most believable apologies come from closer to the point of impact. A frontline acknowledgement, supported by leadership accountability rather than overshadowed by it, can feel more grounded and real.

There is also a tendency in corporate life to treat an apology as closure. As if saying sorry completes the task.

In reality, sorry is only the beginning.

An apology without a sense of what changes next feels incomplete. Stakeholders are not expecting perfection, but they do expect intent. A clear acknowledgement that something should not have happened, followed by a simple indication of what is being fixed, often reassures far more than extended explanations or defensive detail. The focus, at that moment, should be on restoration, not justification.

At its core, apologising in business is an exercise in humility. It requires organisations to momentarily step away from brand language and speak like people. It requires recognising that, in moments of failure, trust matters more than defending process or precedent.

This is also where many businesses struggle most. Admitting fault feels risky. It feels like conceding control. Yet paradoxically, a well-judged apology often does the opposite. It stabilises the situation. It signals maturity. It tells stakeholders that the organisation understands the gravity of what has occurred.

The IndiGo saga will eventually fade from the headlines, as these moments always do. Another crisis will take its place, another apology will be scrutinised, and another organisation will discover how difficult this seemingly simple act can be.

Ultimately, the art of saying sorry in business is not about eloquence or visibility. It is about restraint, clarity and humility. It is about speaking less, meaning more, and acting faster than explaining.

A sincere apology does not try to win the argument. It accepts that, in that moment, trust matters more than being right.

And perhaps that is the simplest lesson of all. In business, as in life, the most powerful apologies are rarely the loudest ones. They are the ones that sound like they were meant.

Pradeep Kumar is the Director – Public Relations, Watermelon Communications