Inspiring Leadership

It's okay to not be perfect

When we talk about coaching and mentoring future leaders, one thing that we suggest is to tell “war stories.”

By this, we mean tell the younger generations about things that went wrong. There are many benefits to this. First, you can tell them what you did when things went wrong so they learn how to fix things if they go wrong in the future. Second, you show them through your example that having problems won’t derail a successful career. Third, the transparency you show builds their trust in you.

It can be difficult to admit when we have been wr—, when we were wr—, when we were “less than completely right.” But if we can find ways to do it (telling it with humor, telling it in the third person, etc.), we can grow our people and enhance our leadership influence with them.

(image source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/53480314299455288/)