This week I’m summarising recent a video I saw from Darren Hardy because a) I think the message is a valuable one to share; and b) because it captures the sentiment of a recent situation in our Serviced Accommodation business.
As a leader (whether a business owner or parent or other) you are an authority to someone, and sometimes you have to let that person feel the ‘burn of failure’. Our default tendency is to try to avoid someone feeling that burn- ie to step in and throw water on the situation, to be the good guy, to smooth it over, to excuse the mistake in some way (particularly us Brits who don’t like to seem impolite or create confrontation). However, doing this is not helpful, the person or company who made the mistake will be missing the valuable opportunity for growth. This is because it takes feeling the burn to stimulate growth
Sometimes the good intentions of stepping in to protect someone from some discomfort would rob that person from potentially a critical, character defining experience – that defining experience wouldn’t happen unless they really feel that burn of failure, to let it sear into their sole. Only then would that pain lead to them making sure it would never happen again, but if you excuse it or gloss over it, it can never teach or instruct.
It takes pain to give birth to change. We are experiencing this positive change from one of our primary service providers in our SA business. Slipping quality standards recently led us to have the tough conversation about looking to change provider. Clearly disappointed our provider requested a second go at things. A transparent meeting was had to provide constructive feedback and opportunities for introspection. This is tough because no one likes to see anyone uncomfortable however people need to get to a point of resolve, to reach the conclusion of ‘never let that happen again’. Two weeks on and we are seeing marked improvements.
In closing, here’s something Darren Hardy said that we can all keep front of mind –
“If you coddle people you will raise babies – they have to feel the burn to learn and to grow”.
Where might you need to let someone feel the burn of their own failure and help them take more extreme ownership in an area of life/business that isn’t going as it should?