“One difference between winners and losers is how they handle losing. Resilience is not simply an individual characteristic or psychological phenomenon. It is helped or hindered by the surrounding system.”
Harvard B School faculty member, Dr. Rosabeth Moss Kanter refers to in the above quote creates the safe cocoon where failures lead to future successes and not the downward spiral of diminished self esteem followed by risk avoidance. What is the role of leadership in creating that environment where risk taking is rewarded, failure is part of the path to success and the traditional blame game is cast aside?
The April 2011 Harvard Business Review is dedicated to examining failure and its impact on enterprise success. While this sounds like an oxymoron, every executive worth their salt understands creating a winning track record also means taking a few in the chin as well. We have all seen wonderful plans go awry because it is simply impossible to forecast and plan a correction for every possible variable. With that in mind, what must leaders do when failure occurs?
Put the matter in perspective. Forward moving people and organizations will experience failures in the quest to find successes. As I tell the executives I coach, the higher the risk or reward, the more you should step back and thoroughly examine the possible outcomes of your decision. Keep in mind the bigger picture and recognize some failures really don’t have a huge impact. As for the big ones…
What is the leader’s role in the failure? As a CEO, I always operated with the premise that the failure of every employee is in part the responsibility of the supervisor. Did I hire right, delegate correctly, provide the right resources, understand the individual needs of the employee, etc.? Same thing goes here for organizational failure and many of the same questions I asked in the last sentence should be asked by the leader of themselves when their team members or teams fail.
Examine the root causes, not who to blame. I had a boss once who approached mistakes/failures with finger pointing and blame. Who to blame was more important that what to learn. Small failures require small examinations and big failures require big examinations into the fundamental root causes of the outcome. If you are busy pointing the “fickled finger of blame” all the time, the message to avoid risks comes across loud and clear.
Celebrate the failure…or at least positively acknowledge it. I know this sounds funky, but examining your failures in a positive light allows for people (and organizations) to grow from their mistakes! If you choose the opposite path, the risk taking necessary to achieve innovation will be quashed along with your employees. I know the truth about this one personally and still have some scar tissue.
Dr. Kanter opines, “While no one should deliberately seek failure, remember that performance under pressure – the ability to stay calm, learn, adapt, and keep on going – separates winners from losers.” How leaders approach losing goes a long way in cultivating a culture of confidence. How leaders approach failure can make the difference in how employees build self-confidence.
Confident employees take the risks necessary for innovation which in turn creates the opportunity for sustainable success.
*For more in-depth reading on this fascinating topic, grab a copy of the Harvard Business Review, April 2011. My thanks to Dr. Kanter for her invaluable perspectives and word choices; her column appears on page 34.