[July 1, 2017] Albert Einstein was an remarkable man. In the recent miniseries “Genius” produced by Ron Howard, the script looks at the peculiar Einstein through the lens of modern-day society. Einstein, like all great people, did make mistakes but quickly learned from them. Only those that truly put forth a rigorous effort will be a success when doing so.
“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” – Albert Einstein
Junior leaders are often taught, erroneously, that making mistakes is a problem and the more mistakes the less likely they will “make the grade” of leadership. While there is an element of truth in the idea that all mistakes can cause difficulty, the takeaway lesson for leaders is that they should not be afraid of mistakes so long as they have done their best and learned from any blunder they may have been responsible.
My list of mistakes as a junior Army officer would fill a large volume. Some of those were small (but nonetheless embarrassing) and some were big (fortunately no person or animal lost their life) but I would be the first to step up and admit the error of my ways and articulate my plan to fix it; compensate anyone’s loss and make right any behavior for which I was responsible.
Leadership means ‘always being ready’; as fully prepared as a reasonable person should be (hint: a little over-preparation is a good thing). Anything short of being prepared for a leader is irresponsible and should be followed by the appropriate consequences as merited if they fail. That lesson was drilled into my head over the years until it finally dawned on me that all leaders need to be ready all the time.
“You should strive for success rather than striving to avoid mistakes.” – Cyril Northcote Parkinson, British historian and journalist
When a good leader makes a mistake, under the umbrella of being fully prepared, and then takes the right action afterwards to make things right, this is a leader who should never fear the consequences. Yet, if the fear of failure is too strong, it prevents us from making progress.
New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani was head of city government when terrorists struck on September 11, 2001. Although he never envisioned this attack, his administration had practiced their reactions and answers to major events in the city. Their preparation and experience allowed them to act in the aftermath better than any other city team could have at the time.
Leaders build on failures. They learn from them, never dwell on those failures, but use those as a stepping stone to greatness. Besides, if you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not doing anything productive or creative.
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