As you grow into a leadership or management
position, you are not only responsible for your
behavior, but also the behavior of your team
members. It is especially important that you and
your team are exposed to the idea of failure and
how it relates directly to leadership.
Many people avoid situations in which they might
fail. Other individuals fear failure so much they
will not take a risk or have an opinion other than
what the group wants. There is an old adage that
says, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”
Select a leader in business, sports, management,
or government and plan a short 20-minute
interview. The interview may be over the phone or
in person.
Suggested interview questions:
- What can be learned by failing?
- You seem pretty confident and successful. Have
you ever exposed your team to the idea of failure
to prepare them for consequences if the wrong
choices are made?
- What can be learned by failing?
- In what ways does failure affect success?
- What do you think is the value of failure?
- How can having a failure change the way you
make decisions or do business in the future?
How?
Some leaders seem to always make the right
decisions and therefore experience a lot of
success. How can too much success interfere
with creativity?
What if we could design a controlled failure
system for work that could tap creativity without
causing fear or stress?
(1) Before students engage in an interview
assignment, they must adhere to these
Guidelines for Interview Assignments at Strayer
University:
(a) The purpose of the assignment is to train
students in interview / research methods, not
to develop or contribute to research that can
be applied to situations beyond that studied
or that is created to share with others beyond
the local setting.
(b) No publication of projects containing the
results of or information from the interviews is
allowed, including publication in social media,
blogs or the Internet generally. The interview
findings may only be shared in the class.