LSF - Listening, learning and the importance of failure“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again

in my life. And that is why I succeed” - Michael Jordan

Continuous learning is another common trait of all successful people. They learn from their mistakes, make adjustments and try again. In business, they listen and learn from their competitors, from their clients, from their staff, from coaches and consultants, courses, books and from anyone who will offer feedback.

Failure is another common factor for great leaders. Every successful leader I have researched, interviewed and worked with have all shared that they had major failures. Most of the successful people today have failed many times, but they learn from their mistakes and keep moving forward, never giving up but stay true to their Vision, Values, Goals and Purpose. Some failed in business multiple times. Abraham Lincoln failed in business, failed in politics multiple times and then eventually became President of the US. Where most give up, leaders have the resilience to pick themselves up, learn the lessons and keep moving forward. Albert Einstein said: ‘A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.'

Questions for reflection:

Choose an area in your life that you would like to improve. Then answer the following questions:

a) What’s working?

b) What’s not working?

c) What can you learn?

d) What can you do differently?

“An organization’s ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage.” - Jack Welch