Embrace Failure

I sat at my desk looking at my computer in disbelief. Did I really make that mistake? I could feel the panic crawling its way up my stomach. I knew the tears weren’t far behind. I looked at the email and retraced the steps I had taken earlier that week.

Yep. I definitely messed up.

It was 2017. I was at my first job out of college. And it was the first time I made a mistake that cost the company money.

It took a while, but I finally worked up the courage to walk over to my supervisor’s desk. In a shaky, and much higher than normal voice, I squeaked out what happened.

She just looked at me and smiled. Without addressing any of my flustered questions about what I should do to fix it, she began to tell me a story of time she messed up. Her slip-up had cost the company a few thousand dollars.

While she was sharing, her boss walked by. Overhearing the conversation, she laughed and said, “Oh that’s nothing! One time I made a $50,000 mistake!”

Not gonna lie. I felt better.

We got my error cleaned up that same day. Looking back, it wasn’t a big deal at all. If I remember correctly, it was a $45 mistake. I know, I know… I overreacted. I can laugh at it now. But in the moment, with my fresh-out-of-college-desperate-to-impress self, it was the WORST.

I learned so much about leadership and growth in that 10-minute conversation with my supervisor and her boss. Both showed compassion and vulnerability as my leaders. More importantly, they showed me that failure was ok. Too often we think that success is when we don’t fail. But I’ve never met a truly successful individual who wasn’t closely acquainted with failure.

You’re going to fail. The question isn’t if but when. So, when you fail what will you do with it? True growth is rarely measured by how well you succeed. Rather it’s measured by how well you fail.

I challenge you to embrace failure. Make each encounter with it work for your benefit.

Abraham Lincoln lost his job, tanked a business, had a nervous breakdown, and was defeated for state legislature, speaker of the house, a seat in the Senate, and the Vice Presidency all before he become the United States President.

So, friends, how will you embrace failure?