Failure as a Second Chance


Failure, though, gives you a second chance to learn. Failure of any kind always tells you something about yourself. It grabs your attention and, if you can remain nondefensive, suggests that perhaps you don’t know something you need to know. Unfortunately, many people don’t capitalize on this second chance to learn. In working with many large global companies, we can say unequivocally that organizations aren’t fond of failure. A powerful learning opportunity is therefore denied, diminished, or deducted. Most large companies don’t give leaders the time to reflect on the experience or the permission to admit their vulnerabilities. In the wake of business failure, mistake, error, or disappointment, many leaders deny (to themselves and others) their own role. CEOs account for disappointing earnings by blaming “unexpected circumstances.” Senior executives cite the weather, consumer behavior, currency fluctuation, pricing, unruly competitors, or some other external event as a logical explanation for negative outcomes. No leader ever says, “I screwed up.”

If you aspire to obtain a top leadership position, however, you can’t continually scapegoat and deny your failures. Through coaching many successful, accomplished leaders, we have observed that personal accountability differentiates learners from laggards. Acknowledging and expressing the negative feelings that accompany failure opens the door to change.

In leadership development programs, we frequently cite the SARA (Shock, Anger, Rejection, Acceptance) model to describe the four emotional reactions leaders experience in encountering situations or outcomes they don’t like:

  1. Shock: You acknowledge your surprise that you messed up, others don’t like you, or you failed to meet your own or others’ expectations.

  2. Anger: You are furious that things didn’t go according to plan.

  3. Rejection: You blame someone or something for events and reject the information or your role in creating the outcome.

  4. Acceptance: You accept your vulnerability and acknowledge that failure and your feelings are part of being human.

Dealing with these feelings can be difficult if you’re left to your own devices. Let’s look at how the passages can help you deal with them effectively and facilitate learning.




Leadership Passages. The Personal and Professional Transitions That Make or Break a Leader
Leadership Passages: The Personal and Professional Transitions That Make or Break a Leader (J-B US non-Franchise Leadership)
ISBN: 0787974277
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 121

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