Failure in Leadership: Falling Forward
As a leader, you're going to make mistakes. And that's okay. In fact, it's encouraged—as long as you learn from them and don't repeat them! But how do we turn our failures into opportunities for growth? And why do some people seem to get stronger after making a mistake while others break under pressure? In this post, we'll explore why falling forward is one of the most important skills of all time and how we can use failure to become better leaders ourselves.
When you fall, you have to pick yourself up and push forward.
The most important thing to remember is that you're not alone. Leaders are responsible for more than themselves, and they need to be able to depend on others--their teammates and peers--to step up when they fall.
If you've ever had a major setback or failure in your career, I'm sure it was embarrassing and painful. But if it's any consolation, falling forward can be just as important as getting back up after being knocked down by life itself (or even by other people). And if nothing else, these experiences will help make us wiser people who understand how resilient we really are when tested by adversity!
Your team is watching you. You can't keep going in the same direction.
If you're a leader, your team is watching you and learning from you every day. If they see that their leader isn't willing to change or adapt their approach when it's needed, they'll also become stuck in their ways and unwilling to change as well.
This is why it's so important as a leader that we stay open-minded about new ideas, methods, and strategies--even if they don't seem like they will work at first glance!
If we reframe mistakes as opportunities for growth, what Gordon Wollman calls “falling forward”, we can use them as motivation to do better next time, rather than letting them discourage us from moving forward.
How can leaders build a “falling forward” team culture?
Well, it starts with you, the leader. There are things you can do to make it safe for others, and also make it acceptable to make mistakes. To reframe our view of mistakes so that they become opportunities for growth:
Normalize this “falling forward” safe culture by openly talking to your team about your mistakes. My team has monthly "Falling Forward” sessions where we ask folks - both leaders and individual contributors - to volunteer their “falling forward moment” of the month. In these sessions, we reframe mistakes as growing moments (aka falling forward) instead of failing moments.
Role model experimentation where you try out new ways of doing things, and making mistakes along the way. Openly share these mistakes with your team and talk about how you might do things differently next time.
In weekly one-to-one conversations, ask your team members to reflect on a situation that happened during the week where they feel they could have done better. if they had the opportunity to do it again, what would they do differently?
Leadership is not a destination, it's a journey. Over time, you will need to continue to learn and evolve as a leader in order to keep your organization moving forward. If you're willing to embrace this process of change and growth, then you will be well on your way toward becoming an effective leader!