Somewhere back in 2011-12 I worked with my team on a huge
Request for Proposal (RFP). This RFP had 4 to 5 of us working for weeks
together compiling lots of data sheets in a nice presentable format and the end
product seemed so promising that I had thought we were going to definitely win
that contract. But, unfortunately, a week post submission of the RFP response I
got to know from my boss that we had lost the deal as we had been undercut on
the pricing with some unrealistic pricing by another company. Me being new to
this process and having the impatience of youth was very saddened and
frustrated to have lost the contract after all the effort we had put in. That
is when my boss, a visionary himself, Mr. Suresh Dadlani taught me a thing
which may seem very trivial but holds a lot of value, he said “Ashish, we win
some, we lose some. It’s part of the game”.
Since our childhood we are always taught “Failures are
steppingstones to success”. As kids, we accept it at face value but we never
really try to understand the “Why” behind it; “Why is failure the stepping
stone to success?”. As management students, leaders etc. we are always taught to
only look for success and always think about winning. But the hard reality is
that failures are as much a part of the leadership journey as successes. They
may be personal/individual failures or failures of your teams and projects.
In my eyes, a leader who knows how to pick himself/herself up
after getting a bloody nose, dust off the dirt and lead a fight back, is a true
leader. So in this article I intend to focus on failing, trying to share my
knowledge, based on my experiences and also the things I learnt during my
ControlCase-sponsored 3-month
management course at the Indian School of Business and talk a little bit about
handling failure or as I call it “How to Fail??!!”
Don’t be in denial…
The most common reaction of any individual to failure is
that of denial. It’s just too hard to digest that one could fail. Then it is
followed by a blame game and this starts a vicious cycle of trying to
reallocate the cause of the failure instead of assessing it.
So, the first step in handling failure is to accept the
failure. A leader needs to be upfront and accept the failure as a person, as a
team or as a project. Also, it is important that the leader takes the heat of
the failure; the team, whatever they have done or have not done, should never
be “fed to the wolves” – figuratively speaking. It is the leader’s
responsibility to own up to the failure and shield the team from any negative
backlash in public or in the organization.
Introspect……don’t brood
Leaders do not have the luxury to sulk or brood after a
failure. The first reaction post-acceptance of failure should be damage control
and introspection. Identify the root cause of the failure, what went wrong:
people, process, technology. Get that on the table as soon as possible.
Introspection also helps in one more aspect, it helps us
come up with a corrective action plan, which is what normally any management
would want to hear after a failure.
Be Alone, Not Lonely
We have always heard a phrase – “It’s very lonely at the
top”, this holds true in all sense. The more you rise, the more you are on your
own and more accountable as an individual than ever. That is where the real
quality of leadership comes into play – managing human resources. You can be
alone at the top but as long as you have maintained excellent working relations
with your team-members, peers and seniors, you are rarely lonely when it comes
to handling failures.
Respect others and they will respect you. Help others in
their time of need and in all probability, they will stand by you in your times
of crisis. This does ease handling or facing any failures.
Regroup and reassess
Post introspection, it is imperative to regroup and reassess
with your team to discuss what was identified in the analysis of the failure.
Then the leader needs to decide whether any salvaging can be done for the
current situation or whether it is wise to let it go and take lessons learnt
for the next project.
No shame in surrender
I believe that “Live to fight another day” is the most
preferred approach when you have no other option. It is wise to let go of the
things we cannot change, accept the failure and move on to the next challenge.
The important thing for a leader is to learn from these mistakes and ensure
that they are never repeated in projects or tasks to come.
So now to answer the question which I asked before “Why
failures are steppingstones to success?” Because failures teach us lessons, as
long as we learn from these lessons to improve in future, then failure cease to
be as disheartening as they seem.
