Here's how you can turn failure into a chance to enhance your professional relationships.

Here are some strategies to help you do so: Acknowledge Your Mistakes: Take ownership of your failures and mistakes rather than trying to deflect blame or make excuses. Acknowledge where you went wrong and accept responsibility for your actions. Apologize if Necessary: If your failure has negatively impacted others, apologize sincerely and directly to those affected. Express remorse for any harm caused and demonstrate your commitment to making amends. Learn from the Experience: Use failure as an opportunity for learning and growth. Reflect on what went wrong, what you could have done differently, and the lessons you've learned from the experience. Use this knowledge to inform your future actions and decisions.

It is only through a willingness to be honest about our perceived failures that we can destigmatize setbacks in the workplace. This is incredibly important, because failures can offer a training ground for process improvement and future success. Something that I have found to be effective is recognizing that even the most experienced leaders will face failures and setbacks in their career. However, by framing these moments as a gateway to learning and creativity, the fear of failure on a team can subside. Additionally, discussing failures through the lens of learning deepens connections with teammates, fostering trust and creating space for collective support and meaningful solutions.

When you fail at providing a high standard of service to your customers it can be an opportunity to cement in customer loyalty. Take the initiative to raise the problem, be honest, do what you can to fix it. Most customers realise that it is human to fail. The courage in your response to your own failure can really impress them.

After you have failed, a true test of character is how you respond. In forward facing leadership, failure is inevitable, but it is what you do with the failure that people will remember. Whether it is a peer, direct report, or other various stakeholder, get their perspective on the situation so you can begin to fully understand the failure from all angles and learn from it. Intentionality is key. If you truly want to learn from your mistakes and fail forward, ask the hard questions to get the real answers. If you ask superficial questions to not damage your ego, you will continue to fail way beyond your original failure.

There are different ways to show support after a failure. Humans have the innate ability to immediately want to solve problems, or sympathize with the individual; however, there are times when you need to lend your ears and not your tears. People sometimes just need someone to listen to them, get everything off their chest and then move on. Do not miss the opportunity to support others through listening and being present by instead providing someone with a scenario or what YOU would do when the two of you are not the same person with the same experiences.

After a failure, the majority of people become immobilized by it. Never willing to take another chance, try something new, or even dream big. What this does to a person is creates self-imposed barriers that will truly limit a persons self-efficacy and ability to produce at the same level they once could. You have to let things go and fail forward. By failing forward, you recognize the failure, embrace it, learn from it, and move on. Similar the Lion King, Rafiki hits Simba on the head with his stick and mutters one of the greatest quotes for failure, “Ah, yes. The past can hurt, but the way I see it you can either run from it, or, learn from it.” You have to move on because there is more to life than being hung up one thing you did wrong.

When discussing failure, people have a difficult time opening up about the failure. A research study discussed the 85/12/3 rule in which 85% of what you thought would happen, never does. 12% of the time, what you expected to happen kind of does. And, 3% of the time the scenario or failure happens exactly the way you fear. So, 97% of the time you are fine and capable, 3% of the time you can face and learn from. I like those odds.

Encountering failure is an inevitable part of our journey, shaping our paths profoundly. How we respond to these setbacks determines our ability to triumph. Therefore, I firmly believe that with each failure, we emerge stronger and more adept. The steps provided here are important and necessary to emerge stronger and to win.