You’ve been asked to describe your greatest failure. How do you answer this question?

The first step is to accept Failure itself in its face. What we generally do is cover the failure with excuses of people, system and process. To give an example, we wanted to start implementing Process FMEA in our organisation and there was absolutely no response from teams to show up on this as Process FMEA dies itself if you don't have a multip discipline team with you. We missed on completing it on time as it was priority and target assigned to only one person. In such cases your priority doesn't match with other members, their challenges, their problems are different and hence you don't get the desired support as required and you fail to meet the deadline. First and most important thing is to accept Failure itself.

Emphasise the actions you took afterwards to improve and avoid future failures. Show you're willing to learn from your mistakes and use them for personal growth and development.

I’m a crap mum as my full focus is on my business for the last 8 years. I’ve also been a crap wife and my husband divorced me! ?? But even tho I never think I spent enough time for my children, never sat down and did their homework, never been home when they came from school, never woke up and prepared their breakfast,y kids adore me! They respect me, they see my hard working and they turned out alright at school! I think I’m just lucky!

Now your priority doesn't match with your team, so seek support from top leadership, it's vital. You need to explain to team importance of doing PFMEA? What are the benefits? ASK them how can we prioritise the activities and schedule, as per your teams availability. When we want to deliver as a team then remember it should not be from your own only. Involve team, ask them by what timeline we can deliver? Understand their challenges. By doing so you are in building their accountability and commitment. So now it's not you, its us who gives a timeline and hence it becomes easy to get going. Note: something which is new or unknown a general human tendency is to avoid it. We resist change.Train team that will bring in confidence to deliver it.

Everyone has failures and it's best to show self awareness by acknowledging these but also giving an example of how you drew a lesson from the occasion and what you now do or will do differently. This strategic thinking is what is really valuable and appreciated by authority and colleagues as failing at some point or another is inevitable. Pick yourself up, acknowledge what's happened (which is a big one - give yourself time if needed) and when you feel ready analyse and learn.

Sharing an honest and relatable experience can help others connect with you not only as a professional in the industry, but as a person. It is also important to show your problem-solving skills and share how you overcame the failure and acknowledged any room for improvement.

When asked about my greatest failure, I would approach it as an opportunity for growth and learning. I would discuss a specific situation where I encountered challenges or setbacks, reflecting on what went wrong, the lessons learned, and how I applied those lessons to improve myself or my approach in subsequent endeavors. Emphasizing resilience, adaptability, and a proactive mindset, I would highlight how failure has ultimately contributed to my personal and professional development.