Originally posted on LinkedIn
Leadership, defeat, and containment…
Juan David Aristi taught me that a good leader holds the team together — while staying realistic about the situation.
When you lose, you have to accept it — and learn from it.
Whether it’s millions of dollars lost, an election, missing a sales target, or anything else — you have to acknowledge what happened, and more importantly, learn from the experience.
What went well? What didn’t? Which assumptions didn’t play out? Which circumstances did we handle, and which did we miss?
And the million-dollar question — did we leave everything on the field? Did we do everything we could with the information we had?
A great leader can talk through all of this with their team — while also acknowledging their effort and the wins along the way, talking about what comes next… and at the same time inspiring everyone to keep moving forward.
Above all (and especially in the face of setbacks), they inspire people to get back up and DO SOMETHING.
Accept, Learn, Inspire — a great leader shines brightest in the face of adversity.