How to avoid complete failure

Are you running like the hare, but succeeding at the pace of a tortoise (fable)?  Or is it worse, you actually are failing in some key areas?  Or you have one or more employees that are...

A few weeks ago I had a prospective client text me that his life was a mess.  His business was so challenged that he was having to pull all-nighters to keep up.  There were employee issues, financial challenges, and stress levels at new highs.  In addition to these pressures, his personal life was under fire because of the ongoing bad habits he had as a leader.

He was tired.  Depressed.  He felt like a failure and wanted to quit.

I texted back:  Failure is a choice, not an event.  If you are ready to do the work, we can get through this.

"Failure is a choice, not an event" was given to me by that soft voice who often advises and encourages me, and I need to listen to more consistently.  I checked online to see if someone else had already given this advice, and could not find anything.

Zig Ziglar is known for saying something different yet similar:  "Failing is an event, not a person.  Yesterday ended last night."  I like that.

One fact for you to consider this morning is:  Failure is inevitable.  What is under your control is the frequency and the magnitude of your mistakes, and whether they ultimately descend into complete failure versus a momentary lapse that you can quickly recover from.

You chose to be a leader.  Failures, whether they be yours or the result of someone else's decisions and actions, are an opportunity for you to demonstrate the quality of your leadership.  It is a blessed opportunity to positively impact the world around you.  Failure is not a calling to quit, but a challenge to lead.  So do it.

Failure is a choice, not an event. 

Yes, there are times when you have to stop doing something, kill a project, close a business, fire an employee, or end something else.  That ocean wave may have pounded you into the sand for a moment, but your legacy as a leader depends on how wisely you return to the surface and successfully navigate your way past the crest of the next crashing wave, and the next one, and the next one...

When we have something going well, then you want it to grow.  So feed it.  When the opposite occurs and something unhealthy is happening, then do not be a sluggard.  The sluggard avoids making hard decisions according to Dr. Henry Cloud.  When you, your advisors, and/or your team members are convinced something is failing, then do the opposite of what you would do to grow something.  Starve or kill it.  Quickly.

If you are tired and a situation or relationship is clearly not working, then be a leader.  Seek counsel.  Deeply consider the advice of your team.  Make the hard decision.  Learn from it.  And then move on, applying what you learn so that you may achieve more than ever before.

You can do it.

We have to change to stay ahead of the game and grow.