The global economy continues to experience extreme volatility as we digest and react to what is arguably the most severe financial environment many of us have ever witnessed. The latest development, involving the proposed colossal intervention -– a.k.a. “bailout” – by the US government to ease an ever-expanding crisis, has not yet alleviated the markets’ fears. It also highlights some challenges that we face as citizens -– namely that we want quick and easy resolutions to our problems with minimal personal responsibility or accountability and that we have relatively low thresholds for pain and even less tolerance for failure.
We want the economy to be bailed out, but we don’t want to foot the bill. We want cheaper gas, but we want to continue to drive our vehicles of choice, eschew public transportation and equivocate when it comes to investments in alternative energy sources. We want to be homeowners, but we don’t want to have to save for a down payment or be bridled with uncomfortable mortgage payments. In essence, we want all the rewards with none of the accompanying risks or responsibility.
The role of the leader, however, is different. Challenges, difficulties and setbacks are all part of the package, and we must understand that these are essential components of standard business cycles, ongoing growth and development, and life in general. John McDonnell, former CEO of McDonnell Douglas, noted that “adversity introduces you to yourself.” Indeed, it makes you come face-to-face with your strengths, weaknesses and abilities to navigate sub-optimal conditions. And it is from the midst of the most challenging conditions that true leaders emerge. Remember if you will just how much adversity Oprah Winfrey confronted in her own life and how she chose to emerge from it all like a phoenix rising from the ashes.
Of course no one likes discomfort, let alone failure. But “the fastest way to succeed,” IBM’s Thomas Watson, Sr., once said, “is to double your failure rate.” The best leaders know that failure is a prerequisite to invention and innovation — in fact, Wes Ball suggests that leaders must nurture others through a failure. Our best products and processes tend to be launched by those willing to both take and encourage risk taking, current and future leaders who are open and able to learn from – and take responsibility for – the subsequent and inevitable mistakes. As Marion Jones’ story demonstrates, failure is not only acceptable but, in many ways, desirable for it rewards us with lessons that could not otherwise be learned.
Challenging times require resilience, an ability to tackle and overcome adversity despite all. Setbacks and upheavals can provide incredible opportunities for innovation and growth, if you’re up to the challenge. Leaders do not succumb to hardship; they acknowledge difficulties, learn from them and resolve to move forward.
Nina Nets It Out: “When nothing is sure, everything is possible.” – Margaret Drabble. Use these turbulent times to determine acceptable risk tolerance for your organizations, whether you are properly poised for less than ideal conditions, and how you can make the most out of the worst. Differentiate yourself with attitude and creativity. And remember — performance under pressure is a leadership prerequisite.
Nina –
I haven’t been doing a very good job stopping by and commenting lately, but I just want you to know I’m still reading and enjoying your blog. You’ve done a nice job extracting some valuable leadership lessons from the current financial mess.
Keep up the good work!
Hi Dan,
Trust me, I understand that you are probably very busy. I too have had a bit less time to keep up with all the great blogging going on. Anyway, I sincerely appreciate your comment, support and insights! 🙂
Great post, Nina. Somehow, over the last couple of decades we started to believe that you could have success without sacrifices and even without trade-offs. But nature doesn’t work that way.
Hi Wally,
It sure seems it, doesn’t it. We are certainly feeling the pain of such beliefs and behaviors with the current financial crisis. While life may not be a zero-sum game, there are most assuredly trade-offs that must happen.
Nina:
Thanks for referring to one of my blog posts above.
As with most leaders, I have learned far more from failure than I ever did from success. Interestingly, it was my “fear” of failure, when I started my business, that drove me to succeed. But it was my ability to learn from failure that made success possible. I only wish that I had had more mentors who could have and would have nurtured me through those failures. I had to endure and find lessons from them on my own. And that’s a tough way to get there.
Our culture has embraced a profound aversion to failure, but not in a way that creates a drive to succeed. The current mythology we all hear regularly is growth without pain, success without failure. This is so pervasive that two tragic symptoms have become almost epidemic: 1) a resistance to delayed gratification and 2) a lack of understanding about cause and effect.
Most of my research is business-oriented, but one of the few general sociological studies I did revealed that less than 30% of persons under the age of 25 can consistently link a cause and an effect. They seem to believe that effects happen without any relationship to actions of people. An even smaller percentage of persons under the age of 30 recognize any value in delaying gratification in order to gain larger gratification later.
This drive to get what I can now without any understanding of what the effect might be from my actions has terrible consequences… not only to the persons making those decisions, but also to the persons around them who have to help resolve the inevitable results.
Many persons recognize that leaders are risk-takers, but few understand the amount of failure that went into making those risks pay off. I think we should all help recreate the mythology of success as the result of failure, rather than continuing to follow the lie of success without it.
Wes Ball
author, The Alpha Factor
http://www.thealphafactor.com
Hi Wes,
While I completely agree that having someone mentor or nurture you through a failure is valuable, I also think that is some minor way it flies in the face of your earlier comment, “it was my ability to learn from failure that made success possible”. Now, I fully understand your point, but what I am saying is that it is in fact trudging through the failure that teaches us the most.
It reminds me a bit of when I was a child and my mom used to say something to me along the lines of “don’t do that because it won’t work out.” She wasn’t saying so because she wanted it not to work out, but rather as someone who had more life experience and wisdom than me. Of course, as most children do, I did whatever I was going to do anyway, and lo and behold, it didn’t work out. Now, should I have listened and not done whatever it was because my mom had warned me of the likely outcome? My take on it is this…even though she knew the likely consequences of my actions, it was best to let me do it and learn from the failure than to simply not have done it because she told me not to.
Anyway, I don’t mean to be long-winded, but I firmly believe that people need [stated with emphasis] to fail in order to gain wisdom and valuable experience. I believe that if people are afraid to fail then they won’t do things outside of the current capabilities. If they don’t push themselves, they won’t grow. If they don’t grow, they stagnate. If the stagnate, they don’t achieve. And, finally, if they don’t achieve, they get fired. So, my advice to those around me, is take a chance. Understand the real possibility of failure and do all in your power to mitigate any negative consequences of such an occurrence. But, for sure, don’t NOT try something for fear of failure.
I wholeheartedly agree with you about the ignorance about cause and effect in younger generations. I see it even in personal life with younger relatives who stroll through life with an attitude of invincibility or immunity from negative consequences. Of course, those of us who have gotten where we are via a series of experiences, including failures, understand that the bucket of cold water in the face is coming soon enough for those who think it doesn’t exist.
To get rewards, we must take risks. But I always strive to ensure a proper balance between the two.
Thanks Wes for sharing your insights.