Despite those early missteps, however, many in the securities industry are impressed with the independence he has shown thus far.

Mr. Nichols has also been, apart from a few early missteps, a wonderfully self-confident technician.

The drama is in the interactions at the office, where an early crucial misstep costs the partners an important alliance.

Mr. Brown floated through his Senate confirmation and several early missteps with hardly a scratch.

Buoyed by the ease of the conversation, he had almost forgotten his earlier missteps by the time they settled in over coffee.

But they may be too far gone to rescue themselves from their early missteps.

Someone, in short, willing to overlook his early missteps.

They also cited one of Mr. Gore's early missteps.

"I think we're finally overcoming our early missteps," he said, "and moving toward having a truly competitive wireless industry."

In the Huskies' 1998-99 national championship season, the team did not have an early misstep, winning its first 19 games before losing to Syracuse.