Feeling Like A Failure?
Have you failed recently? Of course you have! My heavens, if you are like me, you have already failed multiple times just today. All leaders experience failure. It is included in the small print of the leadership contract.
However, there is a Pacific Ocean-size difference between failing and feeling like a failure. You see, the question is not if you will fail or not? You will. The question is what can you take from failure which will make you a better leader moving forward?
As Matt Mayberry writes in his excellent book Culture Is The Way: How Leaders At Every Level Build An Organization For Speed, Impact, And Excellence, “If we open our hearts and minds to expansion and learning from every experience, the failures can hold tremendous value. Turning failures into successes is a trait found in all great leaders.”
Earlier this week I was listening to the March 29, 2023 episode of The Maxwell Leadership Podcast. During his teaching time, Dr. John Maxwell mentioned a term which caught my attention. He mentioned the importance of leaders having “a return on failure.”
As I marinated on John’s words and processed them through the lives of four very successful leaders, I gleaned the following four returns we can take from failure:
Elon Musk Teaches Us The Most Effective Use Of Failure Is To Capture Data And Learn From It
On Thursday, April 20, Elon Musk launched the SpaceX Starship towards space. Though it was the world’s most powerful rocket system, the 394-foot tall spacecraft burst into flames after just four minutes and came crashing back to Earth.
Per the Morning Brew, scientists deemed this launch as a “successful failure.” You see, the goal was for the rocket to just not explode on the launchpad. This “rapid unscheduled disassembly” gave SpaceX’s team of scientists an incredible amount of data and pertinent information needed to have successful launches in the future. In short, this was simply a test flight to figure how to get through Max Q, one of the most challenging and pressure-packed periods of a launch.
If you told Elon Musk you recently failed, I’m confident he would tell you to learn from it and get better in the future.
George Harrison Teaches Us How Failure Helps Develop Resilience And Perseverance
George Harrison is often referred to as “The Quiet Beatle.” Who wouldn’t be when your bandmates are Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and Ringo Starr. As a songwriter, Harrison seemed to be trapped in the shadow of the greatness of McCartney and Lennon. They also had quite a head start on Harrison.
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As recorded in this article, Harrison said, “They had a lot of practice, put it that way. They had been writing since we were in school. So they had written most of their bad songs before we had gotten into the recording studio. For me, I had to come from nowhere and start writing and to have something at least quality enough to be able to, you know, put it in the record with all the wondrous hits.” He added, “I’d always have to wait through ten of [John and Paul’s] songs before they’d even listen to one of mine.”
But Harrison kept writing and writing and writing some more. When he finally released his first solo album All Things Must Pass in November 1970, it contained a staggering 23 original songs he had composed over the years. Harrison’s initial effort was so good it is ranked #368 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All-Time and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014.
If you told George Harrison you recently failed, I’m confident he would tell you to rejoice. You are just getting the bad songs out of your system. Keep writing.
From Mikel Arteta We Learn Failure Teaches Us The Importance Of Showing Compassion
On Friday, April 21, Premier League leading Arsenal, led by manager Mikel Arteta, was supposed to easily defeat Southampton. The team desperately needed the win to hold off hard-charging Manchester City and maintain their current lead. But just 27 seconds into the match, Arsenal’s goalie made a careless mistake and gave up an easy goal. By the 13 minute 40 second mark, Arsenal gave up another goal and was down 2-0.
It was then Arsenal began a furious comeback which you can see in the compelling video below:
Even though Arsenal survived with a 3-3 tie, it was a huge disappointment. Arteta took this as an opportunity to teach us an important leadership lesson when it comes to handling failure. Read the Tweet below:
Mikel Arteta: "I can't love my players more, really. That's what I told them". ⚪️🔴 #AFC
"In football when there's big pressure normally players start to hide; I didn't see a single player who did that". pic.twitter.com/j6EcXBb5L3
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) April 22, 2023
Arteta was also quoted in this article of The Athletic saying, “We made it very difficult again for ourselves but mistakes are part of football. I must say that the way team reacted, individuals reacted — I love our players more than ever. You make a mistake, you make another mistake — it’s complicated when you are fighting for what we are fighting for, to turn that around and change the energy and have the courage to play like the way we have played, it’s incredible.”
He also added in the post-match press conference, “I don’t see the lack of confidence when a team is able to do that (come back from 3-1 to a 3-3 tie). Normally the players start to hide in certain moments – I didn’t see a single player do that, they were willing to take risks, to take the initiative.”
If you want more lessons on dealing with failure from the world of soccer, read the following:
- 6 Life-Changing Lessons On Properly Processing And Handling Failure
- 15 Amazing Leadership Quotes And Lessons From Liverpool FC’s Jurgen Klopp
- 7 Lessons On How Leaders Should Handle Defeat
If you told Mikel Arteta you recently failed, I’m confident he would tell you to build up your team’s confidence by telling them how much they mean to you and then take some initiative.
Dr. Michael Lewis Teaches Us That Failure Provides Perspective
Dr. Michael Lewis served as the Chicago Bulls team doctor beginning in 1996. In the April 22 edition of The Daily Coach, he discussed many topics including how he got involved in sports.
While in high school, Lewis quit the football team after the first day of practice. Though he felt like a failure it opened up an opportunity for him to join the debate team. He said, “I think one of the life lessons is that if you fail today, it doesn’t mean you’re going to fail tomorrow.”
If you told Dr. Michael Lewis you recently failed, I’m confident he would tell you tomorrow is a new day. Get up and seize the day.
Conclusion
If you or your organization are going through a period of failure, remember that there is a difference between failing and being a failure. To get a healthy “return on failure,” capture data, learn from it, keep pressing forward, show compassion, and develop a healthy perspective. This is what successful leaders do.
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