Why ‘Failure’ Is An Important Lesson In An Entrepreneur’s Leadership Journey

Being a leader is undisputedly the toughest job possible. It is a job where you are answerable to not one but each and every person working under you. It may sound alluring at first, handling a bunch of people, making them work, ordering people around, making the big decisions, and being in power. But there goes a very famous saying: ‘With great power comes great responsibilities’.

Sounds familiar?

The pleasant thought of bossing everyone around can diminish into a sour feeling once you realise the number of duties, roles, and tasks associated with being a leader. And hence, not everyone can be a leader.

So, Who exactly is a leader?

A leader is one who is not afraid of taking charge. One who is liable and shows perseverance. A person who is not afraid of taking risks, understands the meaning of power, and can communicate effectively.

One who knows how to convey his thoughts and be a good listener at the same time. One who knows how to take criticism in a positive way. One who is ready to learn even from his peers and juniors. One who can take control, and dominate but can take suggestions and work in a team as well.

Being a leader is an art which calls for the utmost dedication, strong willpower, and high confidence. A leader is never afraid of accepting his mistakes. He knows how to accept his faults as well as how to correct them. He believes in innovation and is never afraid to fail.

As Steve Jobs one said,

Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.

There are two types of people, one who gives up and one who gives up on giving up. The latter category forms what we know as leaders, and the former category is what we know as followers.

Why Is Failure Important?

Failure is important, possibly more important than success. For one, it teaches you the importance, the meaning of success. Secondly, it helps you learn.

When you experience a glimpse of victory, you ignore the small mistakes, but when you taste the bitter flavor of failure, you either give up (the followers) or you stop, think and analyse as to what went wrong (the leaders).

Failure holds very little or rather no importance to the giving up type but it holds a very important message for the latter ones. It makes them analyse every single step, no matter how small or big. It teaches them what success can never do.

How Can You Connect Entrepreneurs With Leaders And Failure?

Successful entrepreneurs are great leaders. Be it Steve Jobs, or Larry Page, be it Walt Disney or Bill Gates. They all had one thing in common. They were (are) great leaders.

And there is one more thing they had in common. That is, they were not afraid of taking risks, neither were they afraid of failure. With each failure, you get a new experience, a new learning, a new mantra to success, a new method to fight the possible challenges. It is with failure that you get to know all the flaws, all the pros, and the cons.

Entrepreneurs can never be successful until and unless they learn to deal with failures. They can never grow until they start being what they call ‘Keaton ke Khiladi’. Doing something and losing gives you an adventure to tell about and a memory to cherish. I read once, that a few dreams are necessary to be broken in order to make the bigger dreams a reality.

As Steve Jobs also once said, ‘I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.’

I can not only conclude from this that Steve Jobs was a great entrepreneur and a great inspiration, but also that the entrepreneurs should get familiar with words like mistakes, flaws, and failure. It helps you acquire a deep understanding of your effort. It helps you acknowledge the true meaning of being an entrepreneur.

You may fail, and you should (being an entrepreneur is very much synonymous to failing) but rather than getting demoralised you should become more insistent of achieving the unachievable.

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This article has been contributed by Pulkit Jain, founder of LegalRaasta & TaxRaahi – an online portal for Company Registration, LLP Registration, income tax return & tds return