When drafting Sustained Leadership WBS a great deal of the research spoke about experiencing failures and ways to manage them.

One of the last edits made to the manuscript was to do a global search for the words “fail” and “failure” and change most of those references to “setbacks”. Why? Because we treat failure as final, and if we confess that “we have failed” we consider that the end of the journey.

If we reframe those events as setbacks, we realize that it is not the time to give up, but the time to redouble our efforts toward the goal. For each setback, assess it. Learn the lesson. Replan, and then start again smarter and more dedicated toward accomplishing your goals. It is never a failure until you stop trying. Tell yourself – it’s not over until I win! Setbacks are not roadblocks; they are merely speedbumps on your personal leadership journey.