The ‘F’ word
“Successful leaders let failures become steps on their journey’
Easier said than done though! How do leaders embrace their failures to allow for growth and innovation?
This is an enduring and far-reaching principle, crossing industry boundaries and fields of work, failure is an essential step for progression. Few of us would deny though that dealing with failure in any capacity is a difficult and sometimes completely unmanageable concept. As leaders progress through their careers there is more on the line in terms of reputational risk and failure is definitely seen as something to be avoided. However, one of the most important things an organisation can do to support innovation and progression is to encourage a culture of learning. Failure should, therefore, be seen as a vital step in the learning journey, as it is in schools. Children are taught from an early age that making mistakes is a step to success. As adults, we would do well to remember that, however hard it is! Blunt language around failure can be unhelpful, so changing the dialogue around this is imperative. As is leaders sharing their own experiences of failure and overcoming mistakes. Innovation is often a team game, so as successes are shared, so should failures. This will reduce the responsibility level on one person and allow failure to become more acceptable.
More on this can be found at www.the-ideas-machine.co.uk
