When a failure happens in your company, it’s easy to get stuck in a place where blame is swirling around, nothing is getting fixed, and a general mindset of defeat is making things progressively worse. How do you overcome this failure? We’ve put together a few steps to help get your company back on it’s feet and moving again.
#1 Forgive:
You need to forgive; forgive yourself, your team, the market, the circumstance– forgive it all. You can’t get over this failure until you’ve shed the weight of it behind you, and have a sense of acceptance about it. Whatever has happened, happened, and by accepting that you can’t change it, you are giving up your the right to have a different past.
#2 Take Inventory:
Once you’ve come to terms with it, take a fearless, egoless, non-judgemental look at what has happened. Take a full inventory of the good, the bad, the ugly… what can you learn from the situation? What went right, and maybe more importantly, what went wrong? Try not to get caught up in protecting yourself or others, and likewise, you cannot treat the situation as a witch hunt. You shouldn’t focus on blame, or taking credit for the issue’s resolve; you must look at the situation as objectively as possible in hopes to figure out how to amend things as much as a possible.
#3 Plan the Future:
Besides damage control, you must plan long-term into the future as well. What will you continue to do the same within your company to achieve success? What will you do differently based upon this failure? How can you ensure that this situation doesn’t repeat itself in the future? Set a plan going forward to act on these learnings. Taking the time to assess your company is essential before the company can move forward; during the recovery period every step and decision you make for your company is especially critical.
#4 Reflect and Have Faith:
Finally, once you have completed these steps: have faith in your ability to lead. You would not have gotten to this point in your career if you were not capable of managing and handling the challenges that come your way, and overcoming this failure will make you a stronger leader in the future.