Dealing with Failure in front of the crowd
Marshall Guillory
Chief Transformation Officer | Enterprise Agility Coach | Change Orchestrator
I did it. I messed up big time. It was the big show with my client. I’d done it so many times before that I lost count. But today, I was off.
It was the P4 PI Planning opening ceremony day (a SAFe big room planning event, the fourth one; quarterly) and it was my honor to go on stage as the leader, servant, external change agent and sr. consultant to share a few inspirational words with the agile release trains (ARTs). My peer and amazing US Marine friend, leader, servant, internal change agent, Papa Joe LaTorre, had deferred to me to close the ceremony as he normally does, the gentleman that he is.
You know that time you practice your speech and timing and wait for just the right moment to launch your inspirational superhero movie quote? yeah…. I messed it up in front of a few hundred people. “with great responsibility there must also come great power.” “You know, spider man’s dad” Oops. Alert! Improvements needed. I realized what I had done instantly. All those fleeting words and I screwed up the closer.
I had done it, my goose was cooked. I felt foolish on stage doing my job. People depended on me and I let them down! I failed right in front of the entire executive team! All the teams!
Please, read the rest of this article and visit my blog at blogagility.com.
Learn more at blogagility.com.
#Failure #CoachingTip #RelentlessImprovement
#SAFe #Agile #Scrum #Lean
Owner at Consigliere Services
7 年no worries...as soon as you admit it, others can forgive it and everyone can move on...a GREAT mentoring moment for under-experienced knowledge workers...thanks!
Agile Transformation Leader | Driving Efficiency, Innovation, and Leadership Growth | Expertise in Program Delivery, Change Management, and Strategic Optimisation
7 年It happens to the best of us, Marshall. I know how you feel but really, even though you feel like you've messed up, others usually won't even give it a second thought. We are all allowed to make mistakes and what sometimes defines us is how well we rise after falling. Keep doing good stuff!