Large firms today were created when their inventors least expected it.
When these bright young guys were busy trying to create something, they lost track of things and fell off, crashing with a heavy heart from the burden of being tagged a failure. However, after so many years and possibly decades of profits and praises, the picture of a total failure has transformed into stunning victories.
Like Edison once responded when asked about his attempts to build a light bulb, I found ten thousand (10,000) ways not to build a light bulb. So let’s face it, failures are a basic part and parcel of life, as they all assume an indispensable part in helping workers learn and develop, as well.
It might be shocking to know, but the truth is employers tend to clamp down on mistakes and this, in turn, would make the employees risk-averse, shy or unwilling to learn anything new thereby making it practically impossible to bring anything innovative to the table. The best organizations are those that have learnt to support embarrassing defeats, encourage and build the risk-taking feature of the employees and allowing them to learn a thing or two from their defeat with a goal at practical improvement.
So how do you succeed in instilling leadership qualities in your employees when you fail?!
• You lead by example
If you desire to encourage your employees to learn through the hard way, it basically starts with you, being the management to pave the way. Managers and employers at all times need to be willing to try out newer, riskier ideas and solutions while encouraging their fellow colleagues to do the same, so far it helps the business the a long run.
Unbelievable true is the fact that there is a drastic change in today's managerial system is of utmost importance and very essential that if your businesses should survive, you will need to bring your employees fully on board. Remember, they take cues from you, so take the initiative and dive in.
• Life is more than Failures
You should from time to time encourage your workers to come up with innovative ideas, and even if they fail at these ideas, they ought to do it fast and move on. By this, I do not imply those rapid fire ideas, but rather ideas that's built from skeletal form, so one could easily jump ship incase things turn sideways. Let's take for an example, rather than take a fifty (50) page plan, the employee could create a basic outline of his ideas and plans and then discuss it with you about its success rate and potential pitfalls, if any may be. By so doing, the employee gets to know if his or idea plan has any possibility to succeed and thus this will help determine if to allocate the resources needed to either go ahead with the plans, or drop it off at the infant stage.
• Maintain Transparency
At all times, you need to continue assuring your employees of mutual respect as they need it. When the upper management follows transparent policies, the employees are bound to feel comfortable and this would amount to productivity and efficiency in all their endeavors. Not only would employees feel comfortable with their work environment, but transparent policies will reduce the tendency to conceal mistakes and errors. If the management is friendly, why would anyone feel the need to hide their failures. Transparent policies sets a precedent which says, hey, it’s no big deal, so these would help employees can get off their feet, address their mistakes and keep moving on. Allowing employees reach out to the other myriad departments to share or influence each other’s idea is a good recommendation, as such an approach will not only better themselves, but add coherence to the company’s vision, thereby instigating potential awesome ideas!
Perhaps you are out to disvover or a feet away from unveiling a brand new revolution in the smartphone industry, there would be times when things go wrong but always bear in mind that your workforce is a treasure truck of folks from diverse backgrounds with expertise in creativity, knowledge, and innovation. With simple team building activities like an occasional party, hanging out with colleagues on a weekend, or bigger initiatives such as mentorship to aid your junior employees to scale through their mistakes, this could help you do wonders for your business. All it takes is one little step.