Face Failure Characteristics of Leaders Who Have Successfully Recovered from Significant Setbacks

By Brittany Forrester

The etymology of the word fail is derived from the French word faillir, which means "to almost do." Faillir is derived from the Latin word fallere, which means to deceive or lead into error. These definitions imply that when people fail, they do not follow through with their intentions, and those who believed that they would be in some way deceived.

There can be a sense of shame felt by people who experience failure. This emotional response can cause them to suppress their feelings, deflect the responsibility of the failure, neglect to learn from the valuable lessons, and thwart the possibility for future success.

As Winston Churchill so eloquently said, "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that count."

• Language: English
• Publisher: vincenzo nappi
• Release date: Aug 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201580674

Book preview

CHAPTER I: STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Introduction

Failure, the quintessential word that simultaneously conjures up images of hopelessness and perseverance, ironically encompasses the possible consequences that can simultaneously exist when a risk is taken or not taken. Failure can beget more failure and lead to a series of disappointing outcomes or imbue profound growth in character and wisdom that serve as the preconditions to success that would have otherwise not been achieved. Experiencing a failure can stymie the greatest of effort or spring forth the will to persevere through a multitude of subsequent setbacks. There is a hypocritical undertone when speaking of failure: it is inevitable and experiencing it can lead to deep learning if reflected on properly, but avoid it all costs because there is an overwhelming expectation of negative consequences. Failure and fault are virtually inseparable in most households, organizations, and cultures. Every child learns at some point that admitting failure means taking the blame. The idea of fault summons feelings of potential punishment.

There is a fear of failure that drives a deeply rooted motivation to evade it, feel high levels of anxiety from it, and take a stance of prevarication when questioned about it.

Researchers inform the reader about the etymology of the word fail. They explain that failure is derived from the French word faillir, which means to almost do and faillir is derived in turn from the Latin word fallere, which means to deceive or lead into error. These definitions imply that when people fail, they do not follow through with their intentions, and those who believed that they would be in some way deceived. Therefore, even though the idea of embracing and learning from failure is pervasive in current literature, there can be a sense of shame felt by people who experience a failure, and this emotional response can cause them to suppress their feelings, deflect the responsibility of the failure, neglect to learn from the valuable lessons and thwart the possibility for future success. But what, then, about leaders who do bounce back from a failure? How do they overcome the potential pitfall that failure offers? As Winston Churchill so eloquently said, Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

Leadership Failure

Failure is inevitable along the leader’s journey. Leaders are in a position where decision making is a necessary component to their role and these decisions have some level of risk; therefore, leaders are more likely to experience failure than others. Failure, to some degree, is unavoidable for anyone in a leadership position. This beseeches an analysis of causality and strikes a chord of curiosity to understand the causes of failure so that the risk can be detected early and create a process to prevent failure. However, this pushes against the philosophical underpinning that supports the necessity for failure to provide valuable learning. This tension can potentially favor an apathetic acceptance of failure, which can inhibit the effort necessary to learn from it. Much of the learning relates to the cause of the failure so that a process can be put in place for an individual not to repeat the same or similar failure in a given situation.

At first glance, the lessons from failure appear to be highly individualized and situational. Yet established leaders have proven themselves to have basic skill sets.

Understanding the extent to which these may be related to prior failure could increase the likelihood that some generalized explanations of failure have been identified. Thus, taking time to understand the causes of failure can be advantageous for leaders. The learning that is afforded from failure is indispensable when it leads to positive action. Although a heavy focus on one’s failure is dispiriting, it can have beneficial effects if it identifies possible causes and suggests corrective