Leadership Development Through Failure: The Backroad to Brilliance
What Great Leaders Do Differently
One of the names for discovery is failure. Another of its names is community.
Decades ago, I was working with 25 leaders from various walks of life who were interested in a challenge: leadership development. They each had been very successful and now cared about helping others achieve leadership success.
An opening get-to-know-you request was made:
“Think of an important experience, one you are grateful for, that shapes the leader you are today; please tell that story to someone near you.”
After they shared their experiences with one another, many told their story to the entire group. The results surprised me.
The Power of Failure in Leadership Development
Of the approximately 20 people who spoke, three-fourths of the group told stories similar in content and flow: failure → near-despair → reaching out to others → revisiting the challenge → “saving the day” or learning important lessons that turned the failure into a source of future success.
Since that time over 30 years ago I’ve made the same request of thousands of leaders all over the world and the results have been strikingly alike: a personal sense of failure, outreach to a community and results that redeem the failure. The leaders I admire most learned to quickly make the move from individual disappointment to community accomplishment.
Why Community Is Essential in Organizational Growth
In our work at Conversant we have come to believe that a group is potentially smarter than any individual. Our individual talents, experiences and lessons, when shared, make us smarter together. Yet, some in authority are slow to discover simply because they are slow to connect with others.
Here are myths we’ve seen delay discovery, along with lessons from leaders we admire:
Myth: Knowing the answer = leadership
“One of the important lessons I had to learn was that, when the answer is not obvious, it is time to involve other people.”
Myth: Admitting ignorance is a sign of weakness
“The more senior my position, the more I run into questions I can’t answer alone. It is stupid to make my intelligence the limit of our thinking.”
Myth: Authority = intelligence
“Senior leader does not mean the smartest leader. Often, there are bright minds a long way from the C-suite.”
The journey from my individual shortfall to community contribution is a highlight of my backroad to brilliance. The leader’s job is not to be the smartest person, it is to host the smartest conversation.
Leadership Development as a Collective Journey
I bet that you, too, have stories from your backroad to brilliance.
If you want to share the stories, get in touch:
📩 mconnolly@conversant.com
About The Author:
Mickey Connolly
Chairman & Founder
For over 25 years, Mickey Connolly and his colleagues have explored how communication impacts coordinated action and organizational culture, working across global commercial companies, police departments, and military organizations. Their conviction is clear: any group can achieve more with less time, money, and stress by applying “communication for action” techniques. Mickey has worked with over 100,000 managers, educators, and negotiators to resolve conflict, improve relationships, and accelerate achievement, while Conversant associates have supported 400 organizations in 90 countries in reaching mission-critical goals ahead of schedule and under budget. He has co-authored two business books—The Vitality Imperative and The Communication Catalyst—and has worked directly with C-suite teams on strategy execution and cultural transformation for organizations such as Citigroup, Kimberly-Clark, McDonald’s, Zurich Insurance, and the Australian Football League. Additionally, Conversant programs have helped leaders at companies like Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Lockheed Martin, and The Nature Conservancy strengthen connection, creativity, and strategic execution.
