Failure: a word feared by our leaders. To blame for failure is, for many managers, an indelible dishonor, dangerous for a brilliant career.
Nothing could be more wrong, according to Andrew Hill, FT’s management editor: in an article published in the Financial Times, the journalist highlights how failure is, in reality, a great source of learning and a stimulus to growth.
Failing, making mistakes and losing push every leader to stop and think: what went wrong with my strategy? What could I do better? How can I evolve and learn from this experience?
Extremely analyzing a failure, however, is not always the right choice.
Just as it would be better to avoid hiding it, on the one hand, or emphasizing it, on the other.
The most constructive attitude? That of setting aside the culture of winning at all costs and accepting failure, living it as a normal passage in the life of a leader.
According to research conducted by Smart on a large sample of managers, in fact, almost all aspiring CEO candidates “boast” an episode of failure during their career, ranging at multiple levels of severity: from simple shipwrecked projects, to job loss to the risk of serious damage to the company to which he belongs.
Despite a CV apparently compromised by lackluster episodes, 80% of candidates for a CEO chair were able to sit down, getting the job.
In short, failure is good, makes you think and invites you to improve. Without forgetting that, only those who have failed at least once, can consider themselves a true innovator.
“My thinking is that – if you want to be successful, learn from the other peoples’ mistakes, don’t learn from success stories. The book I want to write is “ Alibaba: 1,001 Mistakes “. Jack Ma
Failure and innovation: the reflection of the same figure
Innovation and failure are two elements that walk hand in hand, like man and his shadow.
Investing in an experimental project, in fact, is the first step towards successful innovation. At the same time, betting everything on an idea – even if it is potential – does not mean having the certainty of triumph: when you dare, failure is a concrete option.
Precisely the fear of failure and of wearing the medal of failure forever can inhibit a manager from preferring the status quo and to feel protected and safe within his own comfort zone.
A block that can seriously thwart career development: a bold and risk-prone attitude is a skill that is always required of a true leader.
If you have a great idea, develop it without fear. To win, the important thing is to fail.
I failed: what should I do?
A project gone wrong, a lost client, a lackluster resource hired within the team: when a controlling position is held, every wrong choice falls on your shoulders.
If you have failed, don’t get too stuck on the episode, but limit yourself to admit the error and analyze its causes, to create a basis of awareness useful for starting with an even more structured background.
And remember that you are in great company: even the best companies have a bust in their pocket.
You will find an exhaustive collection of them at the “Museum of Failure”: an area created by psychologist Samuel West to spread the culture of failure and educate participants to consider failure as an integral part of the innovation process.
“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” Winston Churchill
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