The Importance of Failure as a Leader
Rich Baron • May 31, 2023
Don’t let yourself become paralyzed by fear of failure
I love this graphic that represents an archer taking aim at a target. Archery is one of my passions and has been for over 40 years now. I can not begin to tell you how many arrows I have destroyed, or lost over the years because I missed the target. However, each time I missed, I learned valuable lessons on how to correct my shooting skills, which equates to being more successful in hitting the bullseye. Now, although I still miss the target, it is not nearly as often.
Why We Must Embrace Failure
If you fear failure at work as a leader, you are likely cutting yourself off from a plethora of possibilities for incredible success. Perhaps you aren’t giving an employee a chance to prove themselves in a new area, or you aren’t pursuing a client that seems out of reach. You might find yourself focused on the potential repercussions of failure. Instead of dwelling on potential negative outcomes, you should reframe your mindset and ask yourself a different question: What if I succeed?
Fear of failure is one of the biggest reasons why people never venture outside of their comfort zone, try new ways of thinking, never encourage those members of their team to push a little harder, and never try to think big.
One of the keys to overcoming the fear of failure is providing a safe place for all of your employees to be able to give 100% effort in a culture where experimentation and failure are encouraged. This could lead to new levels of success in your organization. For example, what if you secure a new contract that everyone at your company thought was out of reach? What if you give an employee a chance who knocks the project out of the park? By taking the risk and being okay with failure at work, your success reaches new heights.
Finally
It is critical to remember that you only have these opportunities to reach new heights if you don’t let yourself become paralyzed by fear of failure at work. This requires you as a leader to embrace failure and encourage the same in others. However, If you only focus on what you are good at — areas where you know you will find success — you will be considered reliable, but you will also plateau and lose valuable growth opportunities.
Failure, and the willingness to deal with it, are key to finding a path to success, even when you are leading a team. It’s important to teach your team not to fear failure, as well, or else they may get stuck in a pattern of moderate success without ever reaching the great heights they are capable of.
About the Author
Rich Baron is a Master Certified Intelligent Leadership Executive Coach at John Mattone Global, with over 25 years of experience in cultural transformation, operational and executive leadership positions, and coaching emerging leaders to CEOs.
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