Imagine you’re leading a new project. Everyone is watching closely—stakeholders, your team, and perhaps even your boss. The pressure to deliver is high, and you’re confident. But halfway through, something goes wrong. The numbers aren’t adding up, deadlines are slipping, and the cracks are starting to show. You start to feel that familiar sting of self-doubt, wondering how you’re going to explain this.
At that moment, it’s tempting to see failure as the end of the road. But what if failure isn’t the enemy we’ve been taught to fear? What if it’s actually the starting point for something better? In leadership, failure isn’t a detour; it’s part of the journey toward resilience.
The Leadership Myth: Success vs. Failure
There’s a myth in leadership that successful leaders never fail, or at least, never admit to it. We see the polished success stories—CEOs announcing record-breaking profits or entrepreneurs celebrating their IPO—but rarely do we hear about the nights spent wrestling with failure. The truth is, no leader gets it right all the time. What makes them great isn’t their ability to avoid failure; it’s their willingness to learn from it.
Think about Steve Jobs. Before he became the visionary behind Apple’s incredible success, he was fired from his own company. Most people would have walked away after such a public failure. But Jobs didn’t. He used the experience to grow, eventually returning to Apple with fresh insights that transformed the company into the powerhouse it is today.
Failure doesn’t define us. How we respond to it does.
Why Failure Is Essential for Growth
When you look deeper into leadership, failure plays a crucial role in building resilience—the ability to bounce back from setbacks stronger than before. Studies on neuroplasticity show that the brain physically changes and adapts when we encounter challenges. It learns from our mistakes, creating new pathways that make us better at problem-solving the next time around. This is why failure is so valuable: it’s how we grow.
Let’s break it down. Imagine a leader who never encounters failure. They coast from one success to the next. Sounds ideal, right? But when a real challenge comes—something they’ve never faced before—they might not have the tools to handle it. In contrast, a leader who has experienced failure knows what it’s like to pick themselves up, learn, and keep going. They’ve developed the resilience to face uncertainty head-on.
Oprah Winfrey is another example. She was fired early in her career from a television reporting job because she was “too emotionally invested” in the stories she covered. Instead of letting that failure hold her back, Oprah embraced her passion for connecting with people on a deeper level, which eventually led her to create one of the most successful talk shows in history.
A Personal Story of Failure and Resilience
I once worked with a leader—let’s call him James—who was incredibly driven. He was known for his attention to detail and high standards. But when a major project he was leading fell apart, James struggled to recover. He took it personally and started doubting his abilities. He was afraid that this failure had tarnished his leadership.
We spent time reframing his experience. Instead of viewing the project’s collapse as a personal failure, we looked at what he could learn. What went wrong? How could he approach things differently in the future? Slowly, James began to see the setback as an opportunity for growth. He applied those lessons to his next project, which ended up being a huge success.
James didn’t just bounce back—he bounced forward. That’s the power of embracing failure as part of the leadership journey.
How to Build Resilience Through Failure
Shift Your Perspective: The first step to embracing failure is changing how you see it. Instead of viewing it as the end of the road, see it as a stepping stone. Ask yourself, “What can I learn from this?” and, “How will this help me improve as a leader?”
Normalise Failure in Your Team: As a leader, you set the tone for how failure is viewed in your organisation. If your team sees you embracing failure as part of the process, they’ll be more willing to take risks and innovate. Let them know that mistakes are okay, as long as they lead to growth.
Practise Self-Compassion: Failure often triggers negative self-talk. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking, “I’m not good enough,” or, “I’ve let everyone down.” Instead, practise self-compassion. Remind yourself that failure is part of being human, and it’s a necessary part of growth.
Reflect and Adapt: After a failure, take time to reflect on what went wrong and why. This isn’t about beating yourself up; it’s about gaining insight. Once you’ve reflected, adapt your approach for the next challenge. What could you do differently next time?
The Long-Term Benefits of Resilience
Leaders who learn to embrace failure develop a type of resilience that carries them through future challenges. It’s not just about bouncing back; it’s about using failure as fuel to grow stronger and more adaptable. When your team sees you handling failure with grace and determination, it sends a powerful message: it’s okay to take risks, and it’s okay to fail, as long as you learn and grow.
Resilient leaders don’t just survive difficult situations—they thrive in them.
Failure as a Tool for Leadership Growth
Failure will always be part of leadership. The question is, how will you respond to it? Will you see it as a dead-end, or will you embrace it as an opportunity for growth? The next time something doesn’t go as planned, remember that you’re building resilience. Every setback is a chance to refine your leadership, strengthen your resolve, and ultimately, come out better on the other side.
The path to great leadership isn’t a straight line—it’s a journey full of twists, turns, and yes, failures. But if you embrace those failures, they’ll take you places you never imagined possible.Why Leaders Need to Embrace Failure to Build Resilience
Comments