Got your attention, didn’t I? Now, I don’t mean what you are thinking; I mean the ‘F’ word FAILURE. Leadership in the workplace has to recognize, embrace and accept failure. Sure, we all want things to go smoothly, but truth is they often don’t. And when they don’t we cast this label on them as ‘failure.’ Thus it’s no wonder that people see mistakes as bad and failure as a dirty word. What would it look like if, rather than labeling any task or action that didn’t turn out as originally planned as a “failure,” we saw each of them as learning opportunities…? What might we create? What opportunities might arise for us? How would our organizations change if we didn’t use the word failure to describe outcomes that weren’t what we hoped for or expected? Or what if we simply decided that failure was an acceptable outcome?

What would change if we were able to step away from self-blame (or blame of others) and move forward into celebration? Trying means to test, to attempt something, to experiment with or have a go at it. When we create new products, marketing campaigns, systems or change, how we do something? We say, ‘Let’s try…”; we don’t assume it’s a sure thing. So why, when it doesn’t work as we hoped it would, do we attach the word failure to the outcome? Leadership in the workplace starts with managers, leaders and business owners building a culture that allows for mistakes and, yes, even failures. These leaders understand that if there are no mistakes then people aren’t taking risks. And they recognize that taking risks and making mistakes creates an opportunity for learning, and that nothing new, creative, innovative or exciting happens without taking risks.

So go ahead, use the ‘F’ word. When you do, you’ll be in the select group of leaders who have created a culture which encourages creativity, innovation and celebration.

© 2014 Incedo Group, LLC