Chapter 4: April

APRIL 01

“Achievement seems to be connected with action. Successful men and women keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.”

—Conrad Hilton, founder, Hilton Hotels

AWARD SUCCESS. LEARN FROM FAILURE.

We wanted to call this page “Accept Failure.” It sounds terrible, we know, but it is something that the greatest managers have done.

Let us explain. Successful managers accept that no one is going to get it right 100 percent of the time; we all fail. With this in mind, they have found ways to learn from failures as well as triumphs.

Because they—and the people on their staffs—do not fear failure, it frees them up to try new things, to be creative, to think outside the box— and, ultimately, to succeed.

As managers and leaders, we must ensure that the people with whom we work feel comfortable coming to us with problems and failures. It is how they grow and learn. If your employees know they will be celebrated for success, it will breed excitement. If they know they can come to you with failure—without fear—it will breed trust.