The Leadership Diaries: Embracing Failure

“Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is a delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead-end". 

~ Denis Waitley

As a leader, the one thing I have embraced is failing.

Failure is our teacher, and it leads to new horizons.

I have failed many times in my life as I try to change my habits to improve myself.

One of my core memories of failing was when I received an F midway through my Advanced Placement psychology class.

I was invested in the class, and I wanted to succeed, and it was very difficult.

I wrote on the wall of my room that F stands for failure, and I’m not a failure.

Was I hard on myself? Yes.

And, as I learned, F fueled me to succeed.

I have dyslexia, which makes it difficult to read and process information.

I earned a C in the class and was proud of my accomplishment.

I failed in college because of my chronic condition.

I was kicked out and banned from my private University.

I ended up in the mental hospital 18 times after saying to myself I wouldn’t go bac…