What do you do if your team needs to know about your failures?

vulnerability is one of the most difficult parts of your job, but you have to be as transparent as possible, sit down and talk the data, do not blame anybody or anything.

I'm unsure if the team NEEDS to know about your "failures." That said, when leaders are willing to be humble and vulnerable, to acknowledge that they've "failed," it helps build loyalty between followers and the leader. So it's a choice that the leader makes. And a prudent one. I put those terms in quotation marks because great leaders across so many fields, from Edison to Oprah to Honda to Ella to Dolly Parton, celebrated their failures, knowing that there were mere steps on the road to success.

Encorajaria a transparência e a cultura de aprendizado na equipe. Come?o destacando a importancia de compartilhar feedback construtivo e aberto. Em seguida, facilito sess?es de feedback onde as falhas s?o discutidas de forma n?o julgadora, focando no aprendizado e no crescimento. Promovo um ambiente seguro onde os membros da equipe se sintam encorajados a reconhecer e aprender com suas falhas, fortalecendo assim a cultura de melhoria contínua.

With all of the resources available at our fingertips, finding information on someone is relatively easy. If there are murmurs about a potential past failure, and it's true? Be honest, always. Doing so may feel like you've failed, but in the long run you will garner respect. Show others examples of how you've bounced back from that failure and stay open about reaching your goals of not only overcoming failure, but succeeding past where you were. Remember, honesty always.

“Failure is a mystery, not a problem,” observes the depth psychologist, Thomas Moore (Moore, 1992, p. 196). But what are we to do with mystery? Perhaps by placing failure in the realm of mystery it ceases to be a personal problem our rationalistic egos need to solve and, instead, we can encounter something that’s archetypal, an experience that belongs to the collective, transpersonal Psyche. Hence, in offering up a perceived failure to your team you're demonstrating the universal nature of failure and its creative potential to bring about growth.

I think walking through your thought processes and feelings along the way could be really helpful here. What were you Thinking (at each step or juncture) What were you Feeling (at each step or juncture) What did you do from that Thought/Feeling combination. Do this exercise for yourself first...it will give you great insights into yourself and how you work, how your actions or behaviors are a result of what you were thinking and feeling...Then share this whole process with your team. For a made up Example: Thought - We don't need to examine the Data, it's clearly showing XYZ Feeling - Excited Action - Make a decision without Data This can be done with any situation by the way - examining positive outcomes can be valuable too.

Every "failure" is a lesson learned and a step on the road to success, if we view them that way. And when we acknowledge and celebrate our failures, it results in a culture where our followers are willing to take educated risks. And I believe that's something that all leaders should want.

In rapidly changing times, the ability to learn from failures is very valuable. Amy Edmondson's book book of the year in 2023, 'The Right Kind of Wrong,' highlights the crucial role of embracing mistakes in fostering a resilient and adaptive organization. By focusing on the lessons we can extract from our missteps, we not only prevent future errors but also create a culture where continuous improvement is the norm. Sharing these learnings with your team can transform setbacks into powerful levers for growth, encouraging an environment where experimentation and learning are prioritized.

Being open about your failures can help foster a culture of trust and continuous improvement within your team. When communicating your failures, share the lessons learned and the actionable steps you've taken to prevent similar mistakes in the future. Emphasize that failures are opportunities for growth and can lead to long-term success. Encourage a culture of open feedback and involve your team in the improvement process, demonstrating your commitment to learning from mistakes and fostering collaborative growth. By owning your failures and outlining proactive measures for improvement, you'll inspire your team to do the same and strengthen the team's overall resilience.

It's as simple as this: Leaders who are willing to be vulnerable build loyalty in their followers. That doesn't mean sharing fear: Team members don't want to follow leaders who are afraid. Quite the opposite. But there's an important difference between showing fear and showing vulnerability.

As leaders, it's essential to lead by example and demonstrate vulnerability by sharing our own failures. Whether it's a project that didn't go as planned or a personal misstep, openly acknowledging our failures humanizes us and shows our team that it's okay to make mistakes. By sharing our experiences, we not only foster trust and authenticity but also inspire our team to persevere in the face of adversity.

One of the competencies that is underrated in my opinion with leaders is demonstrating vulnerability so that they can set a tone of openness and support for the members of their team. Failure is inevitable so being able to contract with the team on how to show up when failure occurs through the lens of a growth mindset will build trust, rapport, and deepen relationships on the team. Spend time reviewing your own mistakes when they occur as well as what actions you want to take to minimize in the future. Also, invite your team to contribute thoughts on how you can improve. Giving your team permission to provide you feedback and their thoughts on how you can enhance your skills will build ownership and accountability throughout the team.

Very often - the leadership template is that 'I need to know all the answers', this is not the case, and studies show that over 90% of an organisation's problems are not understand by leadership - as they are so busy with strategies etc. Tell stories (use the hero's journey template) to demonstrate the importance of growth and learning through failures, and the ground is set for open discussion of mis-steps in the future. Very often with failures, the parameters changed, new information came to light, the budget or organisation changed, or it can be more personal - ie not consulting with other department, but encourage an open mindset of growing through failure.

Create a safe and supportive environment where team members feel encouraged to share their failures and seek support from their colleagues. Foster open dialogue by actively listening to their experiences, offering constructive feedback, and providing guidance when needed. By encouraging transparency and collaboration, we foster a culture of trust and teamwork where team members feel empowered to learn from each other's failures and collectively work towards success.

Normalize Failure. I think it's important to start by setting the tone that failure is a natural part of the journey towards success. Instead of shying away from discussing our failures, let's embrace them as valuable learning opportunities. By normalizing failure, we create a culture where team members feel comfortable sharing their own mistakes and setbacks without fear of judgment. Finally, let's celebrate both successes and failures as integral parts of the journey towards achieving our goals. Recognize and applaud team members for their resilience, creativity, and perseverance in the face of failure. By reframing failure as a stepping stone towards success, we instil a growth mindset within our team.