Society has given the word failure a negative connotation whereas I choose to think of it as a temporary setback.  Merriam-Webster defines failure as, “a lack of success.“ In Buddhism there is a precept that says that, “No effort is wasted.”  Think for a moment of the number of times that things have worked out exactly as you planned.  Now think for a moment longer, how many of those things worked out the very first time you tried to accomplish them?

 

Thomas Edison, Eleanor Roosevelt, Michael Jordan and Indra Nooyi all speak of their endeavors as incremental learnings on the way to success.

 

We have all experienced times when things don’t happen as you planned.  The difference maker for leaders is that, while they may spend a bit of time licking their wounds, they have the courage and tenacity to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and forge ahead.

 

This is an important lesson both for leaders and for their teams.  Any organization that wants to succeed should recognize that failure enables the organization to take calculated risks, boldly experiment, and use that learning to continue on the path toward success.  Reflect on your beliefs about failure.  How you talk about your own failures and those of your team/organization will shape the willingness of those around you to take risks.