If you have been a leader for more than a week or two, you have felt like the dude in the picture (Minnesota Twins' Carlos Gomez). Falling is a part of leading. Seems kind of contradictory, most people think of leaders as those who succeed. Who wants to follow a person who spends time face down on the ground? The reality is, anyone who is enjoying success has had their fair share of failure. They have fallen and will fall again.
I believe the thing that separates leaders from most people is their ability to get up after a failure. Falling is humiliating. The first thing I do when I trip on the sidewalk is to look around and make sure no one was watching me. I don’t have that luxury in my public leadership role. When I trip, lots of people see it. The more responsible the leader, the greater number of people under her or his care, the more people that see the fall.
Get up. if you have fallen, pick yourself up. Clean yourself off. Start walking again. The lessons you have learned from falling will serve you well in the future. If you are wise, you will be less apt to fall again, you will also be better equipped to help those around you when they fall.
I believe the thing that separates leaders from most people is their ability to get up after a failure. Falling is humiliating. The first thing I do when I trip on the sidewalk is to look around and make sure no one was watching me. I don’t have that luxury in my public leadership role. When I trip, lots of people see it. The more responsible the leader, the greater number of people under her or his care, the more people that see the fall.
Get up. if you have fallen, pick yourself up. Clean yourself off. Start walking again. The lessons you have learned from falling will serve you well in the future. If you are wise, you will be less apt to fall again, you will also be better equipped to help those around you when they fall.
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ah yes, falling on your face is never fun, but is definitely a part of leadership. As I mentioned the other day, it's times like these that keep us humble and dependent on the Lord. Today's bolg makes me think of John Maxwell's book "Failing Forward". I havent read the whole thing, partly because it's hard for me to acknowledge and admit that I may have "failed" at something. Unfortunately (or fortunately) there are times in our leadership that things happen ( "failures" or setbacks) to help us understand a situation better in order to be a better leader, listener, communicator, etc.
ReplyDeleteI like the blog theme this week, not always one I want to talk about, but at the end of the day, I know I will be a better leader because I take a moment to reflect on times like these.
Lisa L.