The Courage to Face Our Failures

Tue, 2013-02-05 20:03 -- tomjonez

 

Last week we discussed three decision points in time when those in leadership must exhibit Courage. Certainly anyone who is vested with the responsibility to lead knows that courage is one of the main food-groups of the mantle they wear.

There is another point at which leaders need courage: it takes courage in leadership to face our failures.  And if we lead, we will have plenty of failures to face.

And yet failure is not something that we celebrate well in America.  Just ask the San Francisco 49ers.  Ouch...just had to bring that up...

Yet celebrate failure we must!  Because failure is often one of the best ways to learn life's lessons - especially leadership lessons.  Here's a few reasons why this is true:

Failure can stumble into inadvertent inventions.  The quote in the graphic above by Thomas Edison is one example.  Another is the failure to produce an effective glue that became the secret to Post-it Notes.  In each case, the mere attempt to create, to innovate, to lead, has had profound positive outcomes. As a result of a series of failures!

Failure can teach us what not to do next time.  In fact, I personally think failure is one of my own best instructors.  I recently told a friend that if I write another book, I might just call it, "1,001 Mistakes and How to Avoid Them."  No kidding.  We can (and should) learn a ton from our failures.  Doing so takes courage.

Humility is another positive attribute that can be forged from our failures.  Humility, an often under-promoted yet essential leadership trait, is often a byproduct of failure - and it can serve the leader well who is not afraid to get back up and get in the game. Courageously that is.

As I write this, so many positives are coming to mind that I am tempted to herald failure as a top-ten leadership attribute.  And yet failure is only valuable if we face it, milk it for all we can learn, and then get up and lead again (and maybe even fail again).

Doing so takes courage - the courage to face our failures.

No doubt about it. Courage is essential for those in leadership.  And I’m quite curious to hear from you regarding this topic.  At your convenience I welcome your insights.