Maria Gonzalez Blog
Mindful Leadership

Mindful Leadership in Action – Tip of the Week – Changing the “Failure” Mindset

In order to really learn from a situation it is helpful to change the “failure” mindset to a mindset of “changing course”.  As a Mindful leader, how you handle a situation that has not met your expectations will seriously impact how those around you will approach opportunities.  If your team thinks that they always need to be successful at everything they attempt, they are likely to not be willing to take calculated risks.  What this means is that creativity and innovation will likely be compromised and that you are unlikely to distinguish yourself from the competition.

True success lies in being able to change or adjust your course of action as the facts before you change.  This means that your attitude becomes one of constantly learning rather than constantly judging.  An attitude of learning enables you and those around you to assess outcomes that did not meet expectations and improve upon these situations.

When you find yourself in a situation where you judge an outcome as a failure, become internally aware.  What’s going on in the mind?  Are you blaming yourself or someone else? What’s going on in the body, in “feel” space?  This is key because if you can not let go of the failure in your mind it is likely that you are experiencing sensations in the body that are perpetuating this state of mind.  Just observe what is going on.  Awareness is the first step in being able to change a pattern that may not be serving you well.