Failure

One reason BOOST was started back in 2012 was to prove that I wasn’t a complete failure. I had been fired from a job that I loved. It rocked my world and shook me to my core.  I didn’t realize how much of my identity had been wrapped up in my work.  I felt disgraced, rejected and was certain (for a time) that no one would hire me.

Instead of trying to build a better mousetrap, I wanted to prove that I could be successful.  Having something to prove can lead to sheer determination not to fail. But little did I know that failure is sometimes the best thing for you. It leads you to question what has always worked. You are outside your comfort zone.  You see things from a different perspective. You are humbled.  This is where BOOST began…and is one of the best things to have happened in my life.

Critical to running a successful business is the ability to get outside your head and adapt.  The more you fail, the easier it is to adapt.  Successful people fail all the time, but their ability to get up, learn, and go hard charging into the next challenge, while maintaining the passion and drive that they started with, is their differentiator.  As an executive, do you learn from what didn’t work?  Do you take responsibility for your actions?  Do you empower your team to fail?  No one approaches an opportunity or challenge thinking they won’t succeed.  But the reality is that we fail more often than we succeed.  What you take from the failure and how you apply it to the next challenge is what helps determine your success.

With each failure comes an opportunity to learn and adapt.  Constantly adapting to the environment is what distinguishes leaders and organizations from their competition.  Can you change your mindset or do you place blame?  Do you wallow in your failure and stop taking risks?  Or do you press forward into the next challenge with a new perspective?

Do you continue to fail?