Let Them Fail

TLDR

Teachable Moment:?Help your employees learn from failure by encouraging thoughtful reflection.

The Problem

Your employees won’t always take your?advice.

You might warn them about a blind spot they’re not seeing or some pretty big flaws in their plans.

But sometimes (more than we’d like), they choose not to listen.

Even when your?guidance?is well-intentioned and coming from experience.

And that warning you gave them?

Turns out you were right.

So naturally, you jump right in and try to put all the pieces back together for them.

After all, you’re their?manager.

It’s your job to fix their problems, right?

The Solution

Avoid playing the?“hero”?when it comes to your employees and their mistakes.

It might feel unnatural to sit back and watch them pick up the pieces, but you want them to learn from?failure.

Otherwise, you condition your employees to become overly dependent, something that’s not sustainable in most organizations.

That doesn’t mean doing absolutely nothing but reframing how you approach your role in these situations.

Instead of jumping in and taking over, guide your employee through a?reflection?process.

Help them figure out what they learned from their mistakes:

• Did they learn something new?
• Was it avoidable?
• What will they do next time?

These are just a few questions to get the process started.

Help them reflect.

And watch as they take an important step toward growth.

Keep learning,

Josh

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