Why Failure is Important for the Workplace

“The idea that an 18-year-old doesn’t know how to fail on the one hand sounds preposterous. But I think in many ways we’ve pulled kids away from those natural learning experiences.”

When he was seven or eight, my son was on a losing soccer team.  I was thrilled.

Why? Because every week he still had to show up at practice and participate in games.  I knew then that failure is an important lesson.

Why? Because I was in HR.  I had discussed the importance of failure (and how to recover from it) with a former boss and mentor;  try coaching an executive who has never gotten a “B.”The danger in the workplace is often that when high achievers fail, they are in high profile positions, with large amounts of money on the line, and absolutely no experience or coping skills.

Will employers gravitate toward hiring graduates from schools like Smith that are offering these programs and resources that help young adults cope with failure? They should. Read More Here

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