Removing the Leadership Hats

My dad taught me that it’s important to fire yourself at the end of the year, wait 10 seconds, soak up that horrible feeling, and then rehire yourself. Why in the world would my dad tell me to do this each year?   Give yourself a scare and new outlook. It’s better to pretend to fire yourself before it happens for real. Now strategize! What would you do differently if you were fired and rehired for the same job? You can’t grow to greater success if you don’t look at your failures and change them.   Yes, my dad could have been a Jedi Knight because he motivated himself and others through mind games. Most of those mind games made him and others extremely successful. I thought he was crazy when I was younger. Now I try to do everything he taught me.   It’s better to pretend to fire yourself before it happens for real.   When people get comfortable, they can become lazy, which can lead to poor results. Poor results can eventually lead to one being fired. Don’t wait for that awkward and regrettable moment. I’ve never met anyone that enjoys losing. Go ahead and make that awkward firing moment happen on your terms. Write yourself a termination letter and put reasons behind it. Punch yourself in the gut(words not literally) and make it hurt so you can learn.   What would you do differently if you were fired and rehired for the same job?   It’s so important to motivate yourself to think about new strategies to prevent becoming comfortable. You want to drive in better results every year, but you don’t change anything. How is that working for you? Nothing changes if nothing changes! If you had a record-breaking year…good for you…now get over it. No one cares what you did yesterday, last year, or five years ago. Business is about what you produce month-over-month and year-over-year. People don’t get fired because they are growing. People get fired when they get lazy or stop taking initiative to learn. How can you continue to push yourself to prove to everyone you are not playing it safe? What must you do to grow your success?   ACTION ITEM: Take 15 minutes and make a strategic list. Make sure you put these strategies into practice by putting each one on your calendar.   You can’t grow to greater success if you don’t look at your failures and change them.   No Time Management Your day is chaos. You feel no control in your day. You feel like nothing ever gets done that you want. Poor Communication You hold people to expectations that you did not share with them. People don’t live in your head. Use your words! No routine Schedule your work duties, and don’t get distracted. Give yourself time to think. Make sure to take PTO and recharge your batteries. Boring Meetings No one is excited to be there. No conflict. Watching the minutes for it to end. Talk Too Much – Poor Listening Don’t dominate the conversation. Make sure you shut your mouth and open your ears to hear what others have to say. Show respect to others by listening. Too Many Excuses For Missing Deadlines Nothing is worse than a boss demanding deadlines but the boss lives by double standards. Get your work finished on time. Set the bar with your actions. No Humility Say the words “I’m sorry!” and “It’s my fault!” No one wants to follow a leader who is arrogant and full of pride. Lack of Passion Zap your heart and get excited about your work. No one wants to follow someone who is lukewarm or passive. No Accountability You need someone who will speak TRUTH into you. Make sure to ask others how you are doing and listen to their advice. Broken Trust With Failed Promises Let your YES be YES and your NO be NO. Follow through on your commitments, and show up in mind, body and spirit when you arrive. Need more?  Book us to speak at your next event, and we’ll light it up! Check out our YouTube and LinkedIn pages for more encouraging content.   If you’re looking to take your growth as a leader to the next level, we’ve got you covered. Join the Impact of Leadership Community today!

Every leader aspires to succeed.   They strive to make smart decisions, inspire their teams, achieve ambitious goals, and create a positive impact. Yet no matter how diligently we work, leadership inevitably brings us face to face with failure.   A project misses the mark. A decision produces unintended consequences. A difficult conversation doesn’t go as planned. An opportunity slips away.   These moments can feel discouraging, particularly for leaders who set high expectations for themselves. However, here’s a truth that many successful leaders eventually discover:   Failure doesn’t define leaders. It refines them.   In fact, many of the most valuable leadership lessons arise from moments when things don’t go as planned.   Why Failure Is a Necessary Part of Leadership Many view failure as a sign of something gone wrong. Leaders often feel pressured to appear confident, capable, and in control at all times.   But leadership isn’t about perfection.   Leadership is about growth.   Growth requires learning, and learning often comes through mistakes, setbacks, and experiences that challenge our assumptions.   When leaders avoid failure at all costs, they also tend to avoid risk, innovation, and tough decisions. Protecting their reputation becomes more important than pursuing progress.   Strong leaders recognize that failure isn’t the opposite of success; it’s often part of the journey toward it.   Every setback offers a chance to gather new insights, improve decision-making, and build resilience.   How Effective Leaders Respond to Failure The difference between effective and ineffective leadership isn’t whether failure happens.   It’s how leaders respond when it does.   Some leaders hide mistakes. Some shift blame. Some pretend everything is fine and hope people won’t notice.   Unfortunately, these responses rarely build trust. Instead, they create uncertainty and erode team confidence.   The strongest leaders take a different approach.   They Take Ownership Accountability is one of the most important leadership qualities.   When something goes wrong, effective leaders don’t spend their energy looking for someone else to blame. They take responsibility for their role in the outcome.   Ownership sends a powerful message to teams:   “We may have missed the mark, but we’re committed to learning and improving.”   When leaders model accountability, they create a culture where people feel safe to acknowledge mistakes and focus on solutions.   They Ask Better Questions Failure often provides valuable feedback.   Instead of asking, “Who caused this?”   Ask yourself: What can we learn from this? What did we miss? What would we do differently next time? How can we improve moving forward?   These questions shift the focus from blame to growth.   The goal is not to dwell on the setback but to extract the lesson hidden within it.   They Adapt and Move Forward Reflection is important.   Staying stuck is not.   Great leaders take time to evaluate what happened, identify lessons learned, and make necessary adjustments. Then they move forward with greater wisdom and clarity.   Resilience isn’t pretending failure doesn’t hurt. Resilience is continuing to lead despite disappointment.   It’s choosing progress over perfection.   The Leadership Lessons Failure Teaches   Failure has a unique way of teaching lessons that success often cannot.   While success can reinforce what we already know, setbacks reveal opportunities for growth that might otherwise remain hidden.   Failure Teaches Patience Leadership development doesn’t happen overnight.   Many leaders want immediate results, but meaningful growth often takes time. Failure reminds us that progress is rarely linear and that persistence matters.   Failure Reveals Blind Spots Every leader has areas they cannot see clearly on their own.   A setback often exposes assumptions, weaknesses, or communication gaps that need attention.   While these discoveries may be uncomfortable, they provide valuable opportunities for improvement.   Failure Builds Empathy Leaders who have experienced failure tend to develop greater compassion for others.   They understand what it feels like to struggle, make mistakes, and face disappointment. This empathy allows them to coach, support, and encourage their teams more effectively.   Failure Strengthens Resilience Confidence built solely on success can be fragile. Confidence built through overcoming setbacks is much stronger.   Every challenge leaders navigate successfully increases their ability to remain steady during future uncertainty.   Why Teams Need Leaders Who Embrace Failure Leadership isn’t just about personal growth.   It’s also about creating an environment where others can grow.   When leaders react negatively to mistakes, team members often become fearful. They may avoid taking initiative, sharing ideas, or trying new approaches.   Innovation suffers. Engagement decreases. Learning slows down.   On the other hand, when leaders respond to setbacks with honesty, humility, and a commitment to improvement, teams feel empowered to do the same.   This doesn’t mean lowering standards or accepting poor performance.   It means recognizing that mistakes are often part of the learning process.   Teams become stronger when failure becomes a source of learning rather than a source of shame.   Turning Failure Into a Leadership Advantage The leaders people admire most aren’t usually the ones with perfect records.   They’re the ones who faced challenges, learned from them, and continued showing up with courage and commitment.   The key is learning how to transform setbacks into growth opportunities.   The next time you experience a leadership failure: Acknowledge what happened honestly. Take responsibility for your role. Identify the lesson. Apply what you’ve learned. Keep moving forward.   Every setback contains a choice.   You can allow failure to become a label.   Or you can allow it to become a lesson.   The most effective leaders choose the lesson every time. Failure is inevitable in leadership.   No leader gets every decision right. No leader avoids mistakes completely. No leader escapes difficult seasons.   But failure does not determine a leader’s future.   What determines a leader’s future is how they respond.   The leaders who continue to grow are the ones who embrace accountability, remain teachable, and use setbacks as opportunities to improve.   Because in leadership, failure isn’t the end of the story.   More often than not, it’s where some of the most important growth begins.   What is one leadership failure that ultimately became one of your greatest lessons? Leadership is an ongoing journey, and The Impact of Leadership has resources, coaching, and communities to support you at every stage.   Start your leadership journey today.   Join fellow leaders who chose to grow, don’t wait.   Author: Haley Sellers