Being a leader does not mean you have to be perfect all the time. While you may think that failure is a sign of weakness in a leader, it is actually a sign of being human. And as humans, we are all flawed and destined to make mistakes at times. If you are faced with a recent or past failure, or if you fear that you may mess up your ability to lead others in some way, then it’s time to take a look at some facts about leadership failure. Review the ways in which failure can actually lead to leadership that is based in reality and in future success.
Leaders Who Failed and Became Better People
History is filled with stories of leaders who fell from grace, for a variety of snafus. It seems that the mere fact of being a leader puts you in some kind of spotlight so that mistakes are amplified for all the world to see. The truth is some of the greatest leaders in the world failed at some point in their lives, and some multiple times. Bill Gates, Thomas Edison, Benjamin Franklin, Walt Disney…all shared stories of failure, followed by great successes.
How to Use Failure to Become a Better Leader
What makes a leader is what doesn’t break them when a failure happens. Instead of giving up, a failure makes a leader more determined to do things better. A leader overcomes great challenges and then faces obstacles with perseverance, not fear. To be a leader means being able to face failure head on, learn from it, and roll with the tide.
Let’s look at some ways you can use failure to become a more successful leader.
- Use Failure to Shape Your Future Successes – Making a mistake is an opportunity to learn a life lesson. Instead of beating yourself up, take the time to evaluate what led up to the error in judgment, what factors influenced the decisions and actions you took, and what you have learned. Use this information to propel you into the next phase of your life.
- Failure Can Revitalize Your Desire to Lead – Once you have messed up, there’s no place to go except up. A failure, especially a big one, can reignite your fire and point you at greater things as a leader. So, pick yourself up again and move forward rather than letting failure knock you down.
- Teaching Others About Your Failures Makes You a Leader – There’s no reason to hide your failures. By now, others know about it so just use this as an opportunity to teach others the valuable lesson you’ve learned. This can help transform you into a thought leader, worthy of new respect.
There’s no reason to get down on yourself about a failure. The most important thing is that you learn and move on. Get a fresh start in your career by taking a temporary work assignment from TempStaff.
