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A decade ago, I went through a massive leadership failure at the church I had planted and grown. It was a horrible experience on so many fronts. But I chose to learn and grow. I began prayer walking and talking to God every day. I repented to people I had hurt. I read books. I got counseling. I developed a group of bloodstained allies. Now I look back and realize that experience made me into a new man, a new leader, and a new disciple of Jesus. God turned my horrible into His hallelujah.

All of us fail. All of us make mistakes. As a matter of fact, the more you live life, the more failures you will experience. Someone said, “Experience is the best lesson.” I would make a slight addendum and say, “Learning from experience is the best lesson.”

I know a lot of people who are growing older but have changed little. They keep doing the same things the same way, with the same negative results, but they never learn.  They have a let’s go mindset, rather than a let’s keep learning mindset.

It’s a different mindset to view our failures as opportunities to change and grow. But it does seem that the humility required to say, that was a mistake by me and I’m going to learn from it, is a massive step toward continual growth.

Learning from Failures

Failures are the opportunities to change. Failures provide leverage to catapult us into new ways of handling people and problems. Leadership in any form is about influence.  Thus, all of us lead someone all the time. You might be surprised who is watching you.  So, to learn in the midst of failure is to influence others in better ways. Here are a few tips to growing through failures that I’ve learned.

Five Simple Steps in Learning through Failures

  1. Admit you Failed. Don’t blame others, circumstances, or the dog.
  2. Decide to Learn from your Failure. Through the failure, take responsibility for your own personal growth. Read books, study the problem, get advice. If you need counseling, get it.
  3. Get a Mentor. Find someone who is more experienced and more successful than you and set up a time to regularly meet and take notes from them.
  4. Build a Team. Don’t keep doing things alone, but rather, build a team of comrades, allies, and friends who can guide you in future decisions.
  5. Keep Moving Forward and Keep Learning. Don’t settle. Keep taking risks and keep growing.

Winners are learners. Learners are winners!

Pastor Steve