Dear friends,
Here is the sample chapter of my book titled “Soft Skills: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Overcome
Workplace Challenges to Excel as a Leader.” It is published by Motivational Press, USA. I appreciate your comment and share
with your connections.
Treat Your Failures as
Experiments to Excel as a Leader
“All life is an experiment. The more
experiments you make the better.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
In 2014, I was invited as a keynote
speaker by an eminent educational institution. I treated it as an opportunity
to share my vision to build one million students as global leaders by 2030 URL:
http://professormsraovision2030.blogspot.in/2014/12/professor-m-s-raos-vision-2030-one_31.html
and to inspire students to dream big.
The students belonged to engineering
and management education. I was so amazed at their enthusiasm in the campus. I
recalled my past when I worked as a professor in various educational
institutions, and delivered my speech as follows:
It is essential for every individual
to fail in life. If you don’t fail, you have not tried enough in your life, and
you have not explored anything in your life. People have various kinds of fears
- fear of criticism, fear of ill-health, fear of old age, fear of poverty, and
fear of failure. Among all these fears, the ‘fear of failure’ is the biggest
stumbling block for human growth.
Although most people are ambitious and aspire to rise high in their
lives, they are scared of failures. They are scared of what others will think
if they fail. They also have apprehensions that who will hold their hands if
they fail.
We all have one life, and we must
explore and experiment maximum to unlock our potential. It helps us lead a
satisfying life leaving this world without any regrets. At the same time, we
must learn lessons from each failure. We must treat each failure as an
unsuccessful experiment, learn lessons for the reasons of failure to explore
and experiment better next time. Such attitude and approach paves the way for
success. Hence, what everyone must do is to list out the failures they
encountered during their lifetime. They must also find out the reasons for
those failures. What lessons they learned from such failures. What corrective
action they can take in future to minimize their mistakes and maximize their
success. Having such a systematic and scientific approach helps people overcome
the stigma associated with failures, and to achieve success in life. Remember,
to fail is not bad, but not to learn lessons from failures is bad. Hence, treat
your failures as experiments; learn lessons; explore and experiment regularly
to unlock your hidden potential to achieve an amazing success in your
life.
"The leader wonders about
everything, wants to learn as much as he can, is willing to take risks,
experiment, try new things. He does not worry about failure but embraces
errors, knowing he will learn from them." - Warren G. Bennis
Never
Give Up. Be an Optimist
"Courage is the first of human
qualities because it is the quality that guarantees all the others." -
Winston Churchill
There are several leaders who did not
give up and lived like legends during their lifetime. They inspired the world
with loads of optimism. They provided hope for many people across the world. Here
are the three great leaders who were held captive but escaped with their tact,
intelligence and courage.
In 1899, Winston Churchill headed to
South Africa as a newspaper correspondent to cover the Boer War between British
and Dutch settlers. He was captured by Boer soldiers. He escaped by climbing
the prison wall when prison guards turned their backs on him. He walked in the night with hopes of finding
the Delagoa Bay Railway. He jumped onto a train and hid among soft sacks
covered in coal dust. He went to the home of John Howard, British who helped
him to escape. Finally, he reached Durban in South Africa and became a hero.
Shivaji, the great Indian Maratha
leader was at war with Mughuls. He met Emperor Aurangzeb in Agra and was
insulted in the court. When he questioned, he was jailed along with his son,
Sambhaji. He pretended sickness for a few days. He along with his son concealed
themselves in two of the baskets covered with flowers and slipped out of the
gates of the house and out of the walls of Agra.
Subhas Chandra Bose, fondly known as
Netaji, was India’s freedom fighter. During the Second World War in 1939, he
mobilized Indians to fight against British rule. He was jailed by British and
subsequently kept under house arrest. He grew beard and escaped his house
dressed as a Pathan to avoid being identified by British. He founded Indian
National Army.
Ordinary people would have given up their
hope under those circumstances. But these leaders escaped and provided a ray of
hope for others. Life is full of challenges. Face them squarely. Never give up.
Remember, faith is the force of life. Have faith in yourself. Be optimistic to
take on the challenges to come out with flying colors.
“We shall not flag or fail. We shall
go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and the
oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air,
we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the
beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields
and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” -
Winston Churchill
Reference
