“No one reaches the top without failing. No one become excellent without failing”

Last week, a senior HR Director noted: “The challenge for many corporates is how to make people feel able to fail, to take the risk, to be the best they can be. No one ever reaches the top without falling. No one becomes excellent without first failing.”

Many do argue that the fear of failure has grown and is one of the real barriers to emerging talent fulfilling their potential. How can talent be freed up to take more risks, be brave, and challenge their seniors?

The level of anxiety has seemingly been on the rise. Many point to the increased levels of debt that young talent needs to carry. It was easy for many baby boom graduates to be brave when they left university with no debt.

Others note that social media makes any mistake public and can cause both professional and social loss.

The World Bank has noted that there has been a rise in those who do not take the opportunity to start a business due to fear of failure. They note that this has been on the rise over the last two decades. It is noted that this is changing mindsets in both the UK and US; two countries which have long taken pride in their entrepreneurs.

It does raise a concern as the economy does rely on entrepreneurial behaviours. Does it also raise a question mark over how new leaders will emerge?

If all the reports are correct, then more importantly it also takes away from the joy and challenge of work. Fulfilling lives and adventures normally possess a level of risk. As the HRD noted, excellence often comes from failure first.

So how can talent be freed up from such a fear?

That will be the test of leaders. Too often many are very critical of those who are deemed to have failed and yet failure is a route to excellence. Sports players will often note that they only learn from defeat; very rarely from wins. Losing games and failing is invaluable to learning.

One Marketing Director once ran a high-profile campaign which failed with much public comment. When the CEO was asked if he was going to dismiss the Marketing Director, he simply answered; “Why would I do that? He has just learnt a great lesson.”