Failure: Should You Fear It?
Thanks for checking out this weekly article dump, and sorry it didn't make it out on Friday. I was out visiting family in Alberta and I didn't have enough time to get this post all set up. Better late than never!
The theme for this past week seemed to be articles about failure. Not all of them, of course, but a lot of authors are writing about what it means to fail and why that's not always such a bad thing. Do we need to avoid all failures in order to be successful?
Articles
- Stepping Away, So Others Can Step Up: In this article, Jonathan Bush discusses something that's often hard for leaders to do... Step away. It's difficult for many people to disconnect and have trust in their team to get things done. Trust should be at the center of any highly functional team. At Magnet Forensics, we embrace trust as our core value because we know we're working with talented people we can rely on. It's crucial for ensuring that people can operate effectively to the best of their ability.
- HELP! I Hired the Wrong Guy: In this article, an individual has written in and gets some advice on how to handle a bad hire. Liz Ryan makes some great points on how to address the issue, including a nice segue for the person that wasn't such a great fit. This first example of "failure" to hire properly offers a lot of learning. Know what warning signs you ignored this time around. Know how you can detect it before the hire happens and worse case, how you can detect a bad fit early on.
- Negotiate Great Deals, Without a Fight: Firstly, I'm sharing this not because it might be a good sales tactic or business tactic in the perspective of making money. Forget that for now. In my opinion, this is a great tactic for you to take when you're trying to pitch your idea. Next time you're working in your team and analyzing the pros and cons of some decision, remember that you're not out to make your opinion the only one and everyone else a loser in the outcome. Fight for the win-win, which is often a combination of multiple perspectives. Great article, Joel Peterson.
- Why We Should All Embrace the F-Word (Failure): Arguably the article with the most eye-catching title this time around, Amy Chen discusses failure and why so many people fear it.
- Vulnerability Makes You a Better Leader: This article by Brad Smith discusses why a perfect leader is actually less than ideal. In order to make people really look up to you, it's important to show them that what you're modelling is attainable for them. Chasing perfection isn't realistic, but chasing awesome certainly is.
- 7 Signs You're Working in a Toxic Office: Definitely one of my favourites this week, this article addresses some key signs that your place of work is a crappy place to work, from a work culture perspective. Not only that, the author discusses how to go about solving the problem if you're the victim or if you're the perpetrator! Great stuff.
- Don't Write Off the Coaching Leadership Style: Daniel Goleman discusses why leaders that act as coaches shouldn't be forgotten. A leader that can coach is familiar with their teammates' individual strengths and weaknesses. This let's them delegate effectively and help address the weak areas of their team.
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