While failing is never fun or something we should actively seek, it’s extremely important that everyone experiences failure at some point in their lives. Failing helps people take a step back and realize a few things that they may not have realized prior to that experience. The feeling of invulnerability is nice but it can also cause us to be reckless and make mistakes that could result in even worse failings. This is especially true with leaders, as the failures of a leader can often affect those they’re leading as well. Leaders can benefit from leaders more than most people. Here are a few reasons why.
Failure Can Help Identify Your Allies
Leading a team or running a company is not easy, and that’s why even leaders tend to have a support system of sorts. The thing is, everyone is human and just because they’re on your side now doesn’t mean they will be when you make a mistake that results in a failure. Failure can help leaders identify exactly who on their team has their back and will stick around when the going gets tough, regardless of a mistake you may have made in the past.
Failure Teaches Resilience
Nobody enjoys failing but some people take it harder than others. To some, failing once can often feel like the end of the world, and it may make you want to give up. When failing in your job or while running a business, quitting isn’t usually an option. Instead, you’ll likely be forced to suck it up and keep moving along. This can give you the strength to not buckle under the pressure and instead focus on how you can avoid failure like this in the future. Resiliency is good outside of your leadership position as well and can often help you handle various aspects of your life with more tact.
You Learn What NOT To Do
One of the biggest benefits of failing as a leader is that you learn what not to do, and can avoid doing it again in the future. For example, scientists typically must make a hypothesis, and then they test that hypothesis to see if they’re correct. If the test fails, they’ve now learned that there’s something wrong. Once they’ve identified what’s wrong, they know that they must take that step out of the equation in order to hopefully succeed on the next attempt. This process can be similarly done with leadership and most other things in life. Once you’ve identified what you’ve done wrong, you know to avoid doing it again.