Managing failure is a must in order to be a good leader. Everyone celebrates victory, but it is very difficult to face defeat. The one who accepts the defeat and moves forward, only gets the pleasure of victory later. A good leader is the one who does not let his team’s enthusiasm down in difficult times and gives credit to his team for the victory.
Born in a poor family of a small town like Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, who rose to the presidency, has seen many successes and failures throughout his life. She did not stop after any failure and no success could stop her. Bharat Ratna Abdul Kalam, known as Missile Man, often shares his experiences of defeat and victory with the world. Excerpts from one such dialogue of his:
memorable experience
As a scientist, I had a long tenure at the Indian Space Research Center (ISRO) and after that I got a chance to assume the responsibility of the President. During this time I had many memorable experiences. I learned a lot about success and failure, especially while working at ISRO. I believe that managing failure is very important to be a good leader. The one who accepts the defeat and moves forward, only gets the pleasure of victory later. Instead of being afraid of losing, you should move forward. It is very important to learn this. I have learned this from my long experience. I want to share this experience with you. Really, it is a memorable experience.
Courage to decide
It is from 1979. Those were very exciting moments in my career. The SLV-3 was to be launched. I was the project director for that mission. The entire nation and the world were eyeing this program. There was a huge gathering of media outside. The launch time had arrived. There were just a few minutes left. We were ready for launch. Our wheels were on the computer screen. Suddenly the message flashed on the computer screen. There was a technical problem. This was a matter of concern for us. Expert team was standing behind me. I took his advice. Being the team leader, I had to make the decision. The computer’s message was that there was a problem with the launch. But we bibas the computer
As a leader, we have to make decisions. I decided to launch. The launch failed. Many things come to mind before making a decision, but in the end we have to show courage to make decisions and prepare ourselves for good and bad results. I made the decision and the result was failure. It was a huge defeat. For me, for my team. I was scared. what will happen now. What will you tell the media? That’s when our (ISRO) chairman Satish Dhawan came. He was really a great leader. They handled me. Said, let’s talk to the media. He met the media with us.
He said, ‘Friends, we failed in the SLV-3 launch. The team had worked hard, but now we have to do more work. ”This is the identity of a good leader. Satish Dhawan took responsibility for the defeat of that mission on his own. Do not let me or my team get discouraged. He inspired us to win after losing. This necklace taught me a lot.
Credit for victory
Everyone celebrates victory, but a good leader is the one who takes responsibility for the loss and gives the credit of victory to his team. We failed in 1979, but we were not defeated. Our efforts continued. We succeeded in 1980. We successfully launched SLV-3. Ahh! There was no place for our happiness. The whole country jumped with joy. It was a matter of pride of the country. Now it was the turn of celebration. Then our chairman Satish Dhawan came among us. He congratulated us and said to me, ‘Now go face the media, let them know about your victory.’ Dhawan had taken responsibility for the defeat himself, while he gave the credit of the victory to my team as a whole. You all should learn from this.
Distant thinking and passion
Vision is essential for a good leader. Vision means distant thinking. You must know what you want to do. For this, there should be vision within the leader. With the vision, the leader leads his team towards a goal. There must also be a passion to fulfill the vision. Only vision will not help. It is necessary for the leader to work with passion to fulfill his dream. Only success comes from passion. This is the identity of a good leader. When you do something big, there will be problems. There are problems but do not panic. Learn to deal with problems. You become the captain of problems, do not let the problem become your captain. The path is made only after facing problems. Do not give up in the face of problems. So I say conquer the problems and move on. Only then will you get success. You must do this.
The urge to do something different
You must have the courage to do something different. A good leader shows courage to think differently from others. When you think of something new, something different, then only you can do something different. Can show a new way to society. It is necessary. It takes courage. One more thing, the leader must have the passion to travel inside. Dare to go to areas where no one has gone before. Discovering an area that was previously undiscovered. I have travelled a lot, to different areas of the country. I have met millions of children of the country so that I can reach out to them. It is necessary.
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