Grow, Serve, Lead

Success or Failure – Never Forever

Feb17
2012 34 Comments Written by danonleadership

Leaders need to remember success or failure is not forever. Ken Blanchard said, “Success is not forever and failure isn’t fatal.” Since this is the case it would be wise for leaders to get past success or failure quickly so they can keep moving forward. What can happen though is when a success or failure does happen to a leader, they allow it to hold them back from moving forward.

Don Shula had a twenty-four hour rule when he coached the Miami Dolphins. “He allowed himself, his coaches, and his players a maximum of twenty-four hours after a football game to celebrate a victory or bemoan a defeat. During that time, they were encouraged to experience the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat as deeply as possible. Once the twenty-four hour deadline had passed, they put it behind them and focused their energies on preparing for the next opponent.”

The key to moving forward after a success or failure is to evaluate, learn, make adjustments, and then move forward. Let’s look into each of these areas:

Evaluate- A leader should take time to reflect and evaluate the reason for the success or failure. Looking at what went well and what could have gone better. A leader should do a self-evaluation and then evaluate the other people involved

Learn- What can happen during a success or failure is that people are either overly celebrating or trying to pass the blame, but the goal should be to learn from what has happened. If a leader can learn from what has happened then both the leader and organization will be able to better be prepared for the future.

Make adjustments- After a leader has evaluated and learned from what has happened they should make the necessary adjustments.

Move forward- After the above three things have been done the leader should then lead the people forward.

Question: How do you move forward after a success or failure?

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  • http://www.jmlalonde.com Joe Lalonde

    I do it very similar to the method mentioned here. I celebrate or mourn but then I move on. It’s never good to focus so much on the past that you never move into the present.

    • Anonymous

      Joe,
      So true, spending time on a success or failure will only hold a person back. I really like the 24 hour rule. Thanks for reading and sharing.

    • http://joeandancy.com/ Joe Abraham

      True, Joe. Now matters!

      • http://www.jmlalonde.com Joe Lalonde

        Yes it does… Now if only we can remember that.

  • http://www.j4man.wordpress.com Jim F.

    I do it similar to what you say. I give myself about 24 hours and then remind myself “This too shall pass” and move forward. Excellent content as always!

    • Anonymous

      Jim,
      I also have a “This too shall pass” mindset when it comes to going through a failure or mistake. Thank you for the complement and sharing.

  • http://www.lifeofasteward.com Loren Pinilis

    It seems the difficult times for me are when I’ve had success. Then I feel like I’ve “earned” the right to slouch off the next week. Keeping positive momentum going is something to definitely work towards. I like the idea of a 24 hour period of celebrating or mourning. Perhaps I need to define a pre-specified time period for this.

    • Anonymous

      Loren,
      I think it’s more of a challenge with successes than with failures. I have seen many company’s and leaders be held back because of a past success. After reading what Don Shula said, I’m applying the 25 hour rule into my life.

  • http://www.lincolnparks.com Lincoln Parks

    Moving past failures are hard but the best way is to have someone that can mentor you through those tough times. Someone to tell you to move on. Now the successes we tend to celebrate too long and it takes us away from the field. So having someone to be accountable to helps me to move past successes and failures without dwelling on one or the other.

    • http://tcavey.blogspot.com/ TCAvey

      Good point Lincoln about celebrating too long. We have to keep moving and after a victory there is great momentum…we shouldn’t waste it.

    • Anonymous

      Lincoln Parks,
      Having a mentor or accountability partner during times of success or failure is so important, thank you for mentioning it. Thank you for adding to the post.

  • http://tcavey.blogspot.com/ TCAvey

    I like that 24 hour rule- especially with defeats. We need time to wallow in it, but we have to move on…there really isn’t any other choice. As long as we are living there is work to do and lessons to learn.

    Thanks for that tip- I think the next time I go through a set back I will use the 24 hour rule.

    • Anonymous

      TC Avey,
      I think both have potential to hold us back, when the key is to be celebrate or moan then move on. I like the 24 hour rule because the quicker we can move on the sooner we will be able to move forward. Thank you for reading and sharing.

    • http://joeandancy.com/ Joe Abraham

      I too like that 24 hour rule. Very practical.

  • http://talesofwork.com/ kimanzi constable

    I also like the twenty four hour rule. Nelson Mandela said: “A man’s greatest glory comes in never failing but in rising every time he does”

    • Anonymous

      Kimanzi,
      What a great quote, thank you for sharing it.

      • http://talesofwork.com/ kimanzi constable

        No problem Dan

    • http://joeandancy.com/ Joe Abraham

      Powerful! Thanks for sharing, Kimanzi.

      • http://talesofwork.com/ kimanzi constable

        No problem Joe, I come back to this quote for motivation

  • http://www.thedeterminedchristian.com/ Susan

    I have the blessing of a short memory…success? What success? Failure? What failure? “Whats done is done; what’s done is forgiven; time to move on” has been my motto for the better part of the last 20 years.

    • Anonymous

      Susan,
      What a huge blessing and mindset you have. Thank you for adding to the conversation.

    • http://joeandancy.com/ Joe Abraham

      That’s a good way of viewing life, Susan!

  • http://joeandancy.com/ Joe Abraham

    Dan, I had the same problem that you mentioned here. I used to spend (meaning, wasted) a lot of time resting on success or lying on failure. But later I realized this was hindering my productivity. So I got up and started moving forward. That’s when I really began seeing success.

    I move forward with an attitude of celebration believing that God is ordering my steps. I attempt to learn from failures. Fixing my eyes on the grand goal helps me keep moving.

    • Anonymous

      Joe,
      First off thank you for being so interactive, your great.

      I think mature people know the importance of moving forward after a success or failure. I really like what you said about having “an attitude of celebration believing God is ordering my steps” this is such an important thing to remember no matter what happens to us. I think the goal of every Christian leader is to maintain being focused on God and not on their successes or failures.

      Thank you for adding value to the post and conversation.

      • http://joeandancy.com/ Joe Abraham

        You are welcome, Dan!

  • http://About.me/marcmillan Marc Millan

    I love that you address both success and failure Dan.
    I love the Shula rule.
    I read recently, God doesn’t view us as failures but as learners.
    M_

    • Anonymous

      Marc,
      I think we often can forget about moving forward because of a success or failure but God calls us to striving forward. What a great thing to know and remember, “God doesn’t view us as failures but as learners. Such a powerful concept, something more should be said about this point. I might have to think and see if I can write a post on from this quote. Thanks for the idea and sharing your thoughts.

  • http://enreachinglives.blogspot.com/ jamie

    Can’t agree more with you. I think nothing on this earth is permanent, we are overwhelmed by the fact that everything needs ‘maintenance’ – success, failure, faith, patience, and even happiness.

    • Anonymous

      Jamie,
      great point about everything needing maintenance. Thank you for sharing.

  • http://www.michaelgholmes.com/ Michael

    I’m learning

  • http://www.michaelgholmes.com/ Mike

    I’m getting better at handling failure and success. I used to take a week to get over a failure and 2 weeks to deflate my ego from a success. I’m learning how to be more even-tempered with both…thank God!

    This is great post Dan!

    • Anonymous

      Micheal,
      That’s great to hear. It might be worth trying the 24 hour rule next time. Thank you for stopping by.

  • http://www.indueseason.net skottydog

    I try to acknowledge the victory or defeat and analyze what went wrong or right with my team. ESPECIALLY if I’m the one who goofed. I tend to be on the self-deprecating side, which is intentional most times.

    I feel it shows my team that I’m willing to admit when I am at fault.

    Since we are performing critical Cat Scan exams, we can’t just see if we get it right next time. We discuss what went wrong and why so it doesn’t happen again.

    • Anonymous

      Scott,
      Taking time with your team to analyze and learn from the success or failure is key. Showing your team your not perfect is important when it comes to gaining their trust and loyalty.

      In the Emergency Room/ Hospital it can come down to a life or death situation. It’s why its so important to learn and become better from everything that happens.

      Thank you for stopping by.

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