By Brent Nauer

This article is inspired by a recent publishing in Harvard Business Review “Can You Handle Failure”

Failure isn’t something that most people are open to discussing, yet it offers a revelatory glimpse into characteristics of successful individuals and leaders.

If you have never failed, have you ever tried? As all ambitious individuals will meet failure many times in their life, your reaction to failure is closely correlated to your success and overall happiness. You can’t ignore failure, blame other people, or beat yourself up.

Failure isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The best pole vaulter isn’t someone who can clear 10 feet every time without missing, it’s the one who raises the bar to 20 feet, gets over it once and stretches the capabilities of everyone around them. Sure falling from 20 feet is going to hurt a little more, but taking risks is an indicator of a willingness to learn and the capacity to evolve.

Ok you’re not a pole vaulter so who cares?! In the business world these hurdles are ideas.  The accumulation of these ideas represent a vision, and not surprisingly a bold vision is a scarce commodity. This is because a vision carries a chance of failure and a succession of blame in our results driven society. You want to try something new, but whats stopping you?

You have to stop and ask yourself, is your career a snapshot, or a movie? At any given moment what might seem to be an epic failure may turn into a catalyst for growth and change.  These ideas have become so relevant in my own short career that I can’t help but think how valuable this information is for everyone out there. My failures have only opened the doors to some amazing opportunities. There is always another opportunity so don’t let failure stand in your way, you might actually learn something, or be surprised at what you find. You will also be surpised at how your failures are embraced by others within your organization. When it comes to sales, your list of how not to sell may be growing, but that’s what led you here… didn’t it?

“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” — Robert F. Kennedy