| |
Hello Everyone
One of the things I remember my parents
pounding into me was the need to grow up and
become successful. Success at that time was defined
as graduate from high school, go to college, get
married and have a good job. As Hanamura
Consulting begins our twenty-fourth year of service
this month we have an expanded view of what it
means to be successful. We have found that one of
the steps to success has been failure. We hope this
article will provide you with some additional food for
thought.
Steve
Failure as a Stepping Stone to Success
When author J. K. Rowling
addressed the graduating class at Harvard last June,
she didn't focus on success. Instead, she spoke
about failure. She related a story about a young
woman who gave up her dream of writing novels to
study something more practical. Nonetheless, she
ended up as an unemployed single mom "as poor as
it is possible to be in modern Britain without being
homeless." But during this rock-bottom time, she
realized she still had a wonderful daughter, an old
typewriter, and an idea that would become the
foundation for rebuilding her life. Perhaps you've
heard of Harry Potter? "You might never fail on the
scale I did," Rowling told that privileged audience. "But
it is impossible to live without failing at something,
unless you live so cautiously that you might as well
not have lived at all--in which case, you fail by default.
"You will never truly know yourself, or
the strength of your relationships, until both have been
tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, for it
is painfully won, and it has been worth more to me
than any qualification I ever earned." (Excerpt
from "The Bounce Back Chronicles" by Joe Kita, as
printed in the May 2009 Reader's Digest)
Over the years the definition of
success we cited in the introduction has changed. We
at Hanamura Consulting now define success to
mean "moving steadily toward your goal day by day."
This implies that success is a verb, a journey in route
to a destination or vision. But before you can embark
on a journey you need to set goals in place to guide
you. Not only are goals an important part of the
journey, but you will need to equip yourself with a
foundational education, necessary skills, and a
support system that will give words of encouragement
along the way. Most importantly, know that failure will
be a part of the process.
Failure happens to all of us whether
as a result of our own choices or due to
circumstances beyond our control. The question is
how do some people rebound with lessons learned,
while others merely wallow in the morass of it all?
Truthfully, some failures can be averted if we are
properly equipped. What's important to understand is
the implications of failure and how it impacts success.
Former NBA player Dennis Rodman
never thought he would miss when he shot at the
basketball hoop. But no one, not even the superstars
are 100% accurate. The key factor for Rodman was
his expectations - if you expect success you are more
likely to achieve it. But failure should be viewed as a
learning tool to improve skills and realign goals. In
Rodman's case, making the basket was only one of
the skill sets required. He also needed knowledge of
the sport, knowledge of the strength and weaknesses
of his teammates, awareness of the other teams'
abilities and the willingness to follow directions from
the coach.
Very early in my life I thought of myself
as a failure regardless of how hard I worked. This was
due in part to messages I received early in life that I
was a second class citizen. The attribution theory
kicks in here. An attribution is that phenomena where
someone's opinion of you is based on a group or
groups you come from (i.e. blind people are helpless
and unable to work; Japanese people are not
leadership material). Although I come from a strong,
supportive family, had a good education and basic
skill sets I experienced a clash between the two sets
of messages.
I felt like a failure in part because I
was comparing myself with what I perceived others to
do and be. Trying to be someone else is a great
waste of time and energy. Certainly we can learn from
others' experiences but only as they apply to me, not
you. We also sabotage our own success when we
fear repeated rejection or even fear success itself.
In order to see success in the
workplace we need to develop an environment that
allows for creativity; there needs to be willingness for
people to redirect themselves and to acquire needed
skill sets that will maximize the possibility of success.
Joe Torre, a major league baseball
manager was addressing a group of fortune 1000
leaders three days after his New York Yankees lost
the World Series to the Arizona Diamondbacks in
2001. He shared with his audiences seven leadership
principles that I feel set up a successful workplace:
- Surround yourself with good people
- Tell the truth
- Failure is part of the process
- Find the positives in failure
- Recognize effort by everyone on the team
- Play it one game at a time
- If you got out of bed and made it through the day
you've been successful
In a world where we are all striving to
get better at what we do, we must be careful not to
dwell on our failures, but at the same time examine
the lessons learned from those experiences. Even
when we see the world as going well for us, be
mindful of how the same experience might be
perceived differently for others. Stay in the dialog about
each other's respective perceptions and experiences
before moving on.
.
Reflections
In future newsletters we will be
devoting a lot of time to examining the importance of
the leader's responsibility to help all employees
become successful. In light of greed on the part of
some, leader's today as a group are not well thought
of. This seriously impacts other leaders who are trying
to do it right. We will explore what leadership
behaviors and attributes are necessary in order to
restore confidence in leaders.
So until next time stay the course and
continue to be a difference maker
|
|
|
|
|
Steve Hanamura
With over 30 years of experience, Steve Hanamura is
a nationally known speaker, consultant and trainer. He
is widely sought after in the areas of leadership
development, building effective teams, leading
diversity initiatives and managing generational
differences. With a national client list spanning
Fortune 500 companies to regional not-for-profit
institutions, Steve is highly regarded for his unique
perspectives and distinct training techniques.
As president of Hanamura Consulting, Inc. he is
committed to making a difference in the lives of
individuals and organizations. His goal is to assist
organizations to work together to build constructive
relationships by understanding how we must draw
from the past and work in the present so we can plan
and build for the future.
|
|
WOULD YOU LIKE TO RECIEVE THE HANAMURA NEWSLETTER? |
|
|
