Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is inspired by the lions I saw in the African bush. Did you know that on average a pride of lions have only a 30% success rate every time they go for a kill? Do you think they complain and blame each other when they aren’t successful. No. They just try again.
What I have observed in business is that sometimes we don’t try. The fear of failure leaves us stuck and in paralysis. And yet often the thing that we crave is just round the corner, and if we dared maybe we might just be successful. Throughout my childhood I was typically reprimanded if I got things wrong so it is no wonder that as a business owner I have been afraid of failure and getting things wrong. Maybe you can relate to that. And yet the truth is we can never learn and develop if we don’t try new things. Sure we might fail at some of these new ventures, but so long as we have tried and take on board the learning there is no such thing as failure.
My mentor Roger Hamilton once shared this with me “Learning is earning with the L-plates on it” and it is so true. We can only learn by trying new things and as a business owner there is also the opportunity to be paid to do this. So if you are experimenting with something new in your business you can get paid whilst also learning at the same time.
For me only real source of failure in business (and in life) is if you fail to learn from your actions. Being a life long learner is imperative if you are to grow and stay successful because there is one certainty in business and that is change. The world is moving at lightening pace and unless we are open to learn new things then we will never stay competitive in business.
For the lions, and especially the young lion cubs, they learn to hunt and each time they are unsuccessful they keep trying again. After all their survival depends on mastering this skill. At the outset they are beginners but with continued practice they learn to hone their skills until they become very accomplished.
So my question today is what can you do that will develop your skills and provide you with learning opportunities, regardless of whether you succeed or fail. I’d love to hear from you.
Julia Felton (aka The Business Wrangler) is the founder of Business HorsePower. Business leaders, entrepreneurs and executives hire her to accelerate their business performance by harnessing the energy of their people to work more collaboratively together. By aligning purpose with actions the team achieves exponential results as everyone starts pulling in the same direction.
Julia believes that business is a force for good and through designing purpose-driven businesses that leverage the laws of nature, and the herd, you can create businesses founded on the principles of connection, collaboration and community that make a significant impact in the world.
