The cautious seldom err - Confucius

I've been a leader of people for many years across various roles; I believe some are built for it, have natural attributes that lean them towards leadership, and others are followers. All good leaders will be able to learn from others, evaluate good and bad examples, and apply that knowledge to becoming a better leader. This new series is designed to expose great quotes by various leaders and to investigate how they may relate or apply to myself or others. _{original im src}

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This week's leadership quote

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The cautious seldom err.

_{- Confucius -}

The fear of failure is, to me, one of the greatest inhibitors to forward progression, development, growth, positive results, achievement of goals and ultimate success. If one has a task or set goals, a directive or objective, but one fails to begin the activities to attain it due to the fear of failure itself, then failure occurs nonetheless.

But how does that relate to leadership?

Today I'm going to take a slightly different angle; I often get people telling me in the comments that they're not a leader, don't want to be, or can't be. But here's the thing, we all do it in some manner, whether we like it or not, and so I think the statement is a little naïve. Today I'm going to use the example of a parent and child. Keep in mind, I'm not a parent, but I had parents and was a child, so I feel somewhat qualified to comment. My point is to demonstrate that we all lead in some way, and what we do can have lasting effects on those we lead.

When I was young, I heard the usual things like, don't touch it because it's hot, don't go too close to the edge, no running around the pool, colour within the lines, don't ride your bike too fast, don't jump out of the top of the tree and a million other things. Did I listen? Well yeah, sometimes I did, and on those occasions I didn't I sometimes avoided pain, humiliation and chastisement, sometimes not. I learned though. My parents were trying to lead me in the right direction, to teach me a few lessons.

My parents also encouraged freedom of thought and action though, they didn't always stay within the box themselves, the parameters that were set. They tried new things and undertook actions that held them at risk because they had the possibility of success. They had to work hard to provide for us kids and, with not much to go around, had to try things that had the chance to financially improve the situation. They never risked it all, but certainly stepped outside their comfort zone on many occasions.

My parents weren't leaders per se, but they led by example, worked towards bringing me up as well as possible and to promote the ability to have the right thoughts and attitudes that would then lead me to the actions and results I wanted. So, I guess they were leaders after all.

The quote this week suggests that playing it safe, not attempting a thing, will keep one in a comfortable place; if one never attempts something they can't fail at it and because failure doesn't feel good it affords a degree of satisfaction - the satisfaction of not failing. But...if nothing is attempted nothing can be achieved either.

Failure isn't something people should be afraid of in my opinion; in fact, it should be embraced.

My father used to tell me that, failures prepare me to be the right person to accept success, and he was right. I've failed often, adjusted and tried again - It's a constant cycle for me. Sure, sometimes the second, third and fourth attempts are failures too, but each brings me closer to success and that makes the failure worthwhile.

I can't count the amount of times I set myself to a task as a chid and I'd go at it like a junkyard dog after an intruder. I've done some many things that ended in abject failure, and loads of pain and embarrassment but I also achieved many things that I look back on with pride and helped me become the man I am today, for better or worse. Sure, playing it safe would have cost me less bumps, scrapes and bruises, but what would the cost of not attempting things in life had have on me and my journey?

We are not all leaders, however need to lead ourselves through our own lives with thoughts, attitudes and actions nonetheless. We have choices to make along the way and one of the most important is, should I attempt it; should I try? If that question is answered correctly failures may, and probably will, happen; a person may err. But...Putting oneself in danger of achieving a positive result is the best way to achieve a positive result - Life is too short not to try, fail and try again.

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If you have any thoughts on this leadership quote, experiences of your own, or questions please feel free to comment below.

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