If at first you don't succeed, try...try again. That may be something you heard your parents say when you grew up. We would often be told "There is no shame in failure as long as we try our best."
But this is the real world so how is failure truly viewed in the eyes of our peers, bosses, co-workers and friends. Have you seen the commercial for the pizza chain that touts encouragement and focus towards innovation rather than fear of failure? The concept is if you don't try, how will you ever know what works? There are many examples of individuals willing to take a shot at opportunity even in the face of potential failure. But we may still come away with that empty feeling of having let someone down.
When my oldest son was in little league baseball, he was experiencing a hitting slump. His dad was out of town and although I had just had our third child, someone needed to be at the game. So my 7 year old, 1 month old and I packed up for an evening at the ball field.
I anxiously watched my son as he went up to the plate for his first two at bats. He seemingly stood frozen while the ball sailed past. Pitches that he would normally wack to the outfield. Each time he approached the plate, the incessant taunting of the coaches would ring louder. I helplessly watched as he would repeatedly strike out. His third at bat came along and head down, feet scuffling he headed to the plate. As the first two balls went by, the coaches anxiety rose and their yells became louder and more daunting. "You'll never hit the ball if you don't swing!" they'd yell. That was the breaking point, my son dropped the bat and ran off the field before completing his turn. Before the umpire could even get to the coach to reprimand him, my momma bear instincts came out.
I handed my infant to a lady standing next to me and instructed my 7 year old to stay put. I ran to the dugout with all the furry of an angry bear. I'm not sure what I said but I continued on for awhile and remember seeing the umpires just stand back, smirk, and allow me to scream at the coaches. (They probably figured I was putting a greater fear in the coaches than they could at that point in time) I pulled my son off the field and went home. I'm certain his dad may have never done that but in my eyes, the surmounting pressure on this 9 year old to hit the ball had resulted in a total melt down of confidence. At the time, I wasn't sure I would allow my son to return to that team. Well he did, and that is another story but the point is the paralyzingly reaction he had to the negative coaching and pressure.
Yes I recognize this is about a 9 year old who is facing the scrutiny of adult coaches. But put this concept into into perspective for employees in your current organization. Ask yourself a few questions:
- Are employees appropriately coached and truly given a chance to succeed?
- Is
risk taking encouraged and are acceptable levels of failure embraced? - When failure occurs, are individuals reprimanded to a point where confidence is lost?
- How do the actions and reactions of managers impact employees?
- Have you observed very capable and competent individuals take on a new role or new organization only to experience a slow degradation in their confidence level due to the constant negativity in the workplace?
Professionals can get caught up in the seemingly impossible task of rebuilding their credibility in a new role or when entering a new organization. Although they may have been brought in to "facilitate change" and bring an element of new ideas to the table, in reality, the individual may be set up to fail because the organization is not ready for the change. Maybe the organization doesn't even realize its actions.
Consider this scenario:
An executive is hired into an organization known for it's intimidating culture. The recruitment process spans many months and includes multiple interviews and tests. The position has some board reporting responsibilities so the caution is understandable. Plus, the organization has experienced quite a bit of flux with the position in the past several years. The executive is told they are being hired as a change agent.
The executive is hired. Day one he is counseled by
Unfortunately, the challenges become impermeable barriers and the executive begins to internally question his own actions and beliefs. In a very short period of time, he finds the skills he had built his
So the challenge here is not a question of employment, it is a question of the destruction of confidence and how it has impacted not only the executive but other individuals that have been involved.
Returning to my example of the young ball player, the child has a long future in front of them that can assist in mitigating that unfortunate coaching incident. Been when organizations are able to create an atmosphere where employees are concerned about bringing up issues and concerns and they are constantly being reminded "this is not how we do things" they directly impact the confidence of not only one person but the entire organization.
We are in an age of a multi-generational workforce. Individuals who are at the end of their career were brought up in a very different work environment and culture than the new age professional. This is a critical time of transformation as the workforce blends and evolves.
By Lynn Fountain, CGMA, CRMA, MBA