Thomas Edison was one of the biggest failures of his time…if not of all time…if you only look at the things he did that didn’t work. 

Take the light bulb for example. He apparently tried approximately 10,000 different approaches to make a light bulb before he found a solution that worked.

His passion and perseverance ultimately brought him to success.

And, because he persevered and invented a variety of things that ultimately worked we don’t think about his failures as negatives, but rather insights into why his inventions did not work, yet, and instead we remember him for his successes. 

So how do you define failure?

For some reason in our society there is often a negative stigma associated with failure. And, it’s often the shame associated with that stigma that causes many people to stop short of success.

Great leaders view failure as part of the learning process and know that in the shadow of every great success are a multitude of failures. With regards to the light bulb they would say Edison failed 9,999 times before he succeeded.

It is no different with any endeavor, and sports provides some of the best examples. Nobody expects to score on every shot or play. The most successful take a shot or execute a play, assess the outcome, make tweaks, and make another attempt. Eventually, with persistence talent becomes a honed skill, which result in greater and greater success.

Somebody once saw a golfer get a hole in one and said that golfer was lucky. To which another person replied, “and the better you are the luckier you get!” It’s not surprising that Tour Players have a higher percentage of holes in one than amateurs. 

That is why great leaders celebrate failure. They encourage their teams to execute. And when they fall down they encourage them to get up, dust themselves off, make some adjustments, and try again. And again. And again.

But without the leader’s encouragement most players would stop short of success…quitting as failures.

It is only insanity if you keep doing the same thing over and over and expect different results. Provided you make intelligent adjustments each time you don’t succeed—and try again—it should never be considered failure, but rather fundamental activities in learning.

Challenge to leaders: How are you responding to the failed attempts of your team? If your team is not succeeding as much as you feel they should try celebrating failures [and learning] and see what happens!

Herb Mast is a Leadership Coach and Employee Engagement Specialist. Learn how he can assist you in implementing the principles and concepts presented here.