Rule 7: When You Suffer a Setback, Come Clean and Bounce Back

Overview

SNAPSHOT

Have you ever suffered a serious career setback?

Yes: 70 percent

No: 30 percent

Almost a third of the invincible executives I know have never suffered a career setback. They are the golden women and men of the professional world. You probably know a couple of them. They make you sick. Unfortunately, you cannot plan to be that fortunate. Just as everyone has a few lucky opportunities in his or her professional life, most of us will find ourselves in a very bad situation or two as well. In fact, three of the people I interviewed for this book suffered professional setbacks since the interview and were back on track in short order.

Invincible executives minimize the effects of setbacks by (1) coming clean and (2) bouncing back. The analysis, however, proceeds better in reverse order, so we'll start our discussion with bouncing back.