Today we are going to talk about how to transform a failed experience into a valuable growth experience. Find the show notes on my website at PowerYourImpact.com/8.
Have you ever worked really hard to achieve a certain outcome or goal, but despite your hard work you did not succeed?
Perhaps you did not achieve your desired outcome because of something in your control, like a choice you made when faced with options. Or perhaps the driving force for not achieving your goals was something outside of your control.
Regardless, failure does not feel good. You may feel demoralized, anxious, angry, and possibly even isolated. You may even begin to question your self-worth.
Reality though is failure is not a sign of weakness, but an opportunity to improve our understanding and to grow.
Failure can provide key learnings and insights that move us one step closer to our goals.
So how can you shift your mindset and transform failure into success? The key is to respond with curiosity.
It was a failed experience that led me to launch my business, Power Your Impact.
After 2 ½ years in a Corporate role, I accepted a project-based role with my company primarily because it would lead to the CPO role in a 12-18 month period. Six months in I had received accolades for the work the team was delivering.
And then everything changed……the Company hired a new senior leader from the outside to spear-head the Field Service organization and Supply Chain.
As is quite common, the new leader wanted to bring in his own CPO, someone he had worked with in the past. I didn’t like it, but I couldn’t really blame him.
I left the company feeling like a failure, despite it being outside of my control. I was angry and disheartened.
I was getting ready to put my resume out to my network when my daughter asked me a key question that caused me to pause and reflect.
She asked me if what I was passionate about my work in Procurement & Supply Chain.
I had never really thought about my passion. After all, I was from the generation that focused on financial security.
I spent some time thinking about this and realized two things:
- I loved being in Procurement & Supply Chain because of the impact one could have on the bottom line.
- I never felt like I had enough time to dedicate to helping other professionals in the function navigate their careers.
And so I embarked on a mission to launch a business to help high performing women in Procurement & Supply Chain elevate their leadership impact.
My daughter’s question had prompted me to do some soul searching that I would likely not have done on my own. I had failed by not getting the CPO position and was soley focused on securing my next role.
It’s how you choose to react to failure, not the failure itself, that will determine how your journey develops.
If you shift your mindset and respond to failure with a sense of curiosity instead of avoidance, you have the power to transform failure into success.
