Learning from Failure

Performance demands begin at birth and chase us throughout life. From learning to walk and tie our shoes, to getting an education and earning a living, we must perform. Along the way we discover that we are always performing against others - from school sports to math tests and beyond. Like it or not we are always being compared to others in our life journey. The world judges our performance at every turn; so naturally we must judge ourselves as well. It is a self-perpetuating cycle that is systematically disrupted by our failure to be the best. By definition there can only be one "best" performer. So what does that mean for everyone else? They fail, of course, in their own eyes and in the eyes of others We learn early on that we grow by learning and that opens the door to becoming the best. Learning alone is not enough. We must convert learning to best-in-class performance. We are competing at everything whether we intend to or not because we are always being judged. Failure, just like winning, is inherent in the judging process. We must decide whether it is our adversary or our ally. It will not go away. Our failure 'muscles' will either strengthen us or cripple us depending on our chosen relationship with failure - as adversary or ally. When we join the business world we compete every day to be a high performer who can deliver exceptional results. We learn the power of performing well and the pain of failure largely by experiencing both head on. The power of failure in this experience becomes a natural part of our lives, and it tends to stay with us. Failure enjoys a self-perpetuating legacy in our psyches. Accordingly, we perform with it squarely strapped to our backs. It disables our performance and becomes our adversary if we carry it as an albatross. It unleashes our best performance and becomes our ally when we recognize that failure is a discipline that we must master. Failure is composed of everything that ignites discomfort inside us - from insecurity and uncertainty to defeat and vulnerability. We must master failure in all of these dimensions. Willing or not, we are all enrolled in the 'performance Olympics' of life without the benefit of a trainer or even any rules of engagement - until now. Learning from Failure is the definitive guide to learning from failure to build high performing teams and getting your personal best from yourself in the 'performance Olympics' of life and business. Key to meeting this challenging discipline is our ability to use failure as a growth opportunity not an albatross. Failing well is a mission critical competency for every leader with its own unique skillset. This book is the toolbox of those skills along with the roadmap of how to develop them and how to use them. The book recognizes that life conditions every leader to believe that failure is their kryptonite. This ignites a cycle of fear of failure that is self-perpetuating and powerful. The book presents a twelve-step 'recovery' program for fearful, failure leaders that irrevocably breaks the cycle. 'Recovering' leaders must learn from the failure, apply their learning to their business and teach that application across the enterprise. Learn - Apply - Teach is the process that enables a mindset of continual learning. That mindset unleashes high performance because it is fueled by the engine of learning where failure can feed innovation and courage. The book illustrates how high performing businesses both big and small - from AT&T Wireless and DIRECTV to National Life Group to New York University - have used this strategy to make failure their superpower. The book's unique twelve-step format lends itself to an easy engaging read that enhances the applicability of its content for every reader. It is architected to engage every performer who has ever faced failure and carries the weight of that confrontation with them. The content is designed to be LIVED not read. This book is the reader's training partner in life's 'Failure Olympics.' Consequently, it is an 'everyman' book that provides individuals with performance solutions and organizations with a platform to build performance solutions upon. Learning from Failure has a teachable point of view that distinguishes it as a transformational work. In our current global economic crisis, America will be deeply challenged to be competitive and more productive in order to take its rightful place as leader of the free world. Learning from Failure will be part of the growth engine in American culture to make that happen because it will inspire Olympic medal-winning performances across its broad reaching audience.