When a Second Chance is Worth the Risk
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Leaders often fail at letting others fail. But, only perfect people don’t need second chances.
There’s no point in getting up if
trying again isn’t an option.
No second chances:
Leaders – who don’t give second chances – waste potential.
Worse yet, aspirations remain average, when failure isn’t an option. Reaching all goals, for example, means:
- Challenges are attainable.
- Goals are too low.
- Leaders are short-sighted.
- Average effort is acceptable.
Those who reach high, fall short.
Fully prepared is too prepared.
Leaders enable reach and fuel passion when they give second chances.
Strategic forgiveness:
Bill Treasurer in, “Leaders Open Doors,” explains, “The essence of a second chance is strategic forgiveness.” When you give second chances people often, “becomes deeply loyal and deeply committed.”
Worth the risk:
Bill explains that second chances are worth the risk with people who:
- Made an honest and legal mistake.
- Approached the situation thoughtfully and logically but the outcome didn’t work out.
- Make mistakes out of ignorance not malice.
- Have a long track record of adding value.
- Are deeply embarrassed and are likely to retain the lesson.
Consequences:
Second chances and consequences go together. After falling short, higher accountability or more oversight may be appropriate, for example.
Making failure an option doesn’t
mean failure doesn’t matter.
Successful second chances don’t accept mediocrity. They ignite passion for excellence.
When are second chances appropriate? Inappropriate?
How can leaders give second chances without lowering standards?
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Related:
“How Blowing Up a Factory Changed Jack Welch”
“Giving Liars a Second Chance”
The tricky thing here is that the leader must have an established and communicated set of boundaries, so that employees do know what will “tear it.” It always reminds me of the scene in Bull Durham, where Kevin Costner’s character is looking to get kicked out of the game, but he can’t find the right word that will get the ump mad enough to toss him- finally, he gets there, they cut up to the radio booth, where the commentator says, “well, Crash must’ve called him a motherf–r.” As long as folks know the rules, it is easier to explain when they do or don’t get second chances.
You make me think about the power of a track record when it comes to second chances. If all we do is give second chances, performance doesn’t matter. Thanks for jumping in.
When are second chances appropriate? Inappropriate?
Dan, I think second chances, maybe even the odd third chance, are appropriate when the person can demonstrate that they have actually learned and absorbed the lesson from the first chance. Everyone makes mistakes, it is how most of us learn what not to do.
But we should gain some knowledge or wisdom or insight from the first error and go forward with some modification in our thinking and/ or behavior.
How can leaders give second chances without lowering standards?
The best way to do this without lowering the standard is to state very clearly what you expect. The standard does not need to change, but as I said above, they need to make some changes in thinking and doing.
It also help if you are perfectly clear about the consequences to them and to team if they blow this new opportunity.
As always, love your insights. Thanks for saying, “third chances.” Nice!
Me Dad would say when a failure occurred “You make a bigger mistake by not doing anything”. He ment forbearance with the diligent.
I think the most important part of 2nd chances is that a leader truly believes that failure is a part of learning and development. Many times I’ve heard managers/leaders say they believe in letting people fail to learn, but then when the heat comes from others they fold or the person who failed finds their experience a “ding” against them during performance reviews. – Joe S
My current ‘A’ always says that we’d rather get beat up over doing ‘something’ than doing ‘nothing’. He encourages us, and we in turn encourage others, to take a risk and do ‘something’. Mistakes just mean we try again. We still look at the downside but I think we feel a bit ‘free’ due to his view! Thanks for the opportunity!
I work for a Christian homeless shelter, and the phrase that we use that would describe this article would be “redemptive opportunity”. It restores dignity and respect to employees, and it restores that which they have of value that the organization needs from them. the bottom line is that doing this cares for people and will have a bigger impact on them in terms of gaining their followership than intimidation and threats ever will.
I agree with each of the 5 points of when a second chance is worth the risk. In addition, the quote “become deeply loyal and deeply committed” is so true, especially based on the person meeting the 5 points of second chance risk assessment. Great information, and looking forward to getting Bill Treasure’s book Leaders Open Doors. (either by winning one here, or self-purchase!!)
Being allowed to honestly fail is a great learning experience. There is a parable somewhere that I’ve always liked. To paraphrase: A individual at a company made an honest error that cost the company a significant amount of money. This individual was immediately called to the carpet of the CEO’s office. The individual was downcast and had already accepted that he had lost his job as he felt that was just. The CEO spent some time asking this individual what he learned and what he would do differently.
The CEO then dismissed the individual. Confused, the individual asked, “Aren’t you going to fire me?”
The CEO responded, “Why would I do that?! I just invested a significant amount of money in your education.”
Excellent! Thank you.
Coaching is an essential part of what leaders do. If we coach to create greater leaders, then that means that they aren’t there yet. WE aren’t there yet. That translates to mistakes.
No perfect people allowed.
We live on second chances. Thank God my wife gives me second chances.
Where would we be? As leaders, had we not been given a second chance, we most likely would not be where we are today.
Wow tough issue today Dan!!! Great one though.
I should be dead and got my second chance and took it, sobered and cleaned up.
Can’t hardly describe the feeling one gets whupping a terminal disease for a little over 29 years!!!!! Winning!!! Hehe
So I am living each day with the gratitude of living on borrowed time.
I don’t mess around, here for results, not ingredients. I get them too.
Mistakes of omission, like not knowing how to do something…make as many as a person needs to make. Mistakes of commission, knowing better and choosing wrong anyway another matter. Stealing is one if those. Zero tolerance.
Anyway GREAT post on your blog today, big props will be very interested to see how others feel about this. Got a great group of folks who follow your blog so looking forwards to learning from them.
Thanks and take care.
Scott out!
I agree completely. Everyone that’s worth keeping around will make mistakes. The determining factor in their value, is whether or not they readily acknowledge their mistake and prepare to correct it and move forward, or if they cower and try to point the finger of blame.
Keep those that readily admit their wrong doing, get rid of those that try to shift the blame. The two responses are indicative of certain character traits, the former is highly desired among employers, the latter not so much.
It seems to be that the crux of the issue for leaders and players is patterns. Leaders who have a pattern of defaulting to second chances in every case in a dysfunctional attempt at mercy demotivate. Players who’s pattern doesn’t match Bill’s 5 points above will likely never rise to the level of productivity and their loyalty isn’t really to the leader who shows mercy, but is to the cushy spot they have found.
The timely second chance in the right context can not only save a career, but can change average players into “go the extra mile” rock stars.
Thanks for bringing up patterns, Rick. It’s very important in this conversation and I left it out completely. Powerful.
There are two parts to my story and explain how and why I look the risk. After 19+ years I left a company that I had worked at since graduating. Leadership and vision that you can trust and get behind are key parts of taking the risk. The second part was the confirmation God provided me throughout the process of where shall I go including music on the radio, rainbow in the sky, and Job 42:12 on the day I was about to put in my letter of resignation.
The world would be a terrifying place without second chances. I’d much rather work with someone who made mistakes, reflected, and fixed them, then work with someone who never made mistakes because they never took risks. I’d also rather work FOR someone who makes mistakes and admits them rather than someone who hides them because he/she can’t be wrong.
Wow! Love your opening sentence… thanks
Dan, I stumbled across your blog about a week and a half ago and have been diligently following ever since. Your messages are short and impactful! Today’s message is certainly something I think many people need to keep in mind, both professionally and personally. “Only perfect people don’t need second chances.”
A great boss gave me a second chance about 35 years ago. It changed my life and defined the rest of my (successful) career. I try to pass that along.
I qualify for these. It’s a real blow when any of this happens:
Made an honest and legal mistake.
Approached the situation thoughtfully and logically but the outcome didn’t work out.
Make mistakes out of ignorance not malice.
Have a long track record of adding value.
Are deeply embarrassed and are likely to retain the lesson.
I believe everyone deserves a second chance. Strategic forgiveness and worth the risk as explained by Bill Treasurer above are the reasons behind my belief. There is some value to be found in all things, including the trash you may have placed beside the road this morning for pick-up. I too am looking for that second chance to prove myself worthy and to assist with that value added to an organization. This, like all things, a good leader will recognize value with the lights off and give that deserving person a second chance. One man’s trash is indeed another man’s treasure.
This post really hit home with me. I had a principal give me a 2nd chance when a seemingly innocent situation that I allowed to happen came back to bite us. He had trusted me, was disappointed that I had approved this event, and yet after our conversation, my total acceptance of responsibility, and because of my naive belief in the way this was supposed to happen (and it did not happen the way I believed it would), he was able to put it aside and continue the great working relationship that we had previously established. I believe it was possible because of my previous track record, my acceptance of responsibility (and the associated consequences), and his ability to see that one bad decision out of the hundreds of good ones should not be the sole judgment of my worth.
No one is perfect, including the leader who is in charge of seeing that the high expectations are maintained. But having a proven and healthy working relationship allows both parties to put the mistake behind them and continue to move forward for the greater good. I also believe this requires some empathy on the part of the leader to realize how easily one mistake in judgment doesn’t have to be a life sentence. We do this for our friends and family and the ability to forgive and move on is appropriate in the workplace as well.
Enough said! Outstanding post.
Thank The Lord for second, third, etc chances. Forgiveness and giving someone another chance (opportunity) is essential. When I interview one of the questions I ask is “share one of your greatest failures and what did you learn from it”.
Keep up the great work Dan!!!
Our division uses the mantra of fail forward. You can only realize this if you truly give second chances. The deepest learning always comes from our failures and not our successes.
I am grateful for those leaders who have given me a second chance. The freedom to make a mistake, learn, and move on is part of team training in the business world today. Timelines and critical due dates also limit the amount of freedom leaders are willing to give. However, working with good folks knowing their skills, ability, and heart goes along way toward selective forgiveness.
My working definition of forgiveness is” giving up the right to get even.” In giving a second chance the balance between performance and building trust is critical. Failure is important to grow…attitude is a game changer for me in giving a second chance.
I think “Making failure an option doesn’t mean failure doesn’t matter.” is an important sentence in this blog, and one that might well be overlooked too often. Failure must always matter. But it is the context of the failure that determines whether it is acceptable…or not.
We’ve all gotten second and third chances in life. But in business repeated failures at the same task demonstrate an inability or unwillingness to learn. Those failures should be tolerated for only so long as they cost business money and poison the work pool if allowed to continue.
I came across this concept years ago in a novel by Anne Tyler, “Saint Maybe,” where the main character stumbles across a place of hope called The church of the second chance.
I totally agree with the point that failures should remind us – that failing is often the only thing that makes us realize we are missing something – preparation, accountability, oversight etc. Then we get to go back, add the missing ‘ingredient(s)’ and try again.
Love it! Good as always Dan.
Effective leaders promote cultures of risk-taking. When you allow others to take risks, you honor learning despite the chances of failure. Having the flexibility to take second chances people are encouraged to utilize learning to move forward and make better decisions. Second chances are powerful opportunities to continue learning, improving and growing.
Very nice and interesting post, Dan.
The idea of giving 2nd chance is simliar to: Grace. It’s some thing we don’t deserve, yet we receive it. Evry people must have experience of receiving grace at least once in our life.
However, leaders usually grow into a perfectionist choleric person with high standards. So I think I know why you wanted to post this idea: to remind them.
The 2nd chance is best given to people who are (as you wrote above) deeply embarrased n likely to retain the lesson.
Great leaders should be able to “read” people’s embarrasments and their desire to grow, therefore they can give the 2nd chance to people who are “worth it”.
I’ve been given a second chance on two occasions, once within the same company and another with a different company. In both cases I achieved success and made significant contributions.
Legendary coach Vince Lombardi once said “The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.” Leaders, like coaches, have to be sure that we have given the right training and tools to our people, and to be sure that we have put them in situations where they can be successful.
Establishing proper goals and expectations that stretch the organization and the individual are important for growth of both. As leaders, it is our responsibility to see that goals and expectations are challenging yet attainable. Failure to meet short term and near term goals my well be the fault of the leaders and/or the employee.
My measuring stick relative to any employee’s success or failure is whether they have attacked the expectation was passion, honest effort, awareness and with thoughtfulness. Did they see failure coming or we they blindsided by it? Did they look outside themselves, to co-workers or managers for insight or assistance? Did they do what they could to affect the outcome that were looking for?
Setting aside the possible failure of the leader to properly establish expectations and provide the right tools and training, assuming that we have an individual which regularly has success and adds value to the organization, the “next” chance is always reasonable. Sometimes conclusions are out of our control. To use another sports metaphor, sometimes the batter hits your best pitch and it scores the winning run. You don’t walk away from a player that has performed in the past, has prepared to the best of their ability but sometimes does not reach every challenging expectation. I’ll run them out there, believe that they learned from failure and I’ll be confident in the outcome. As leaders, “Next chance” is how we we motivate, empower and reward successful people.
The third paragraph in your comment is pure gold. Did they see it coming or were they blindsided…KaPow! Did that try to get help..Powerful! Glad you shared your insights.
No one can innovate without taking risks. I tell my people I expect them to fail sometimes. That if they aren’t failing, they are not challenging themselves enough. But, I also tell them that when they fail I expect them to fail forward. I expect them to reflect on their experience and learn from it – and to fail better next time.
This relates to something that is often very difficult but is essential to servant leadership: allowing your team member the opportunity to succeed (or fail), using their knowledge, skills, and talents applied in his/her unique way. A team member may not do the job EXACTLY as you would! As leaders, we must get comfortable with execution that stays within the bounds of the direction we have given. . but allows team members to address the challenge and own the work (and the resulting outcomes) through application of their style and personality.
How can our employees grow if they’re not allowed to make mistakes??
I’m having problems with the basic premise here. Why must the pursuit of change be turned into yet another all-American exercise in win/lose? To encourage that atmosphere is to discourage those would be willing to embrace change. Managers, who are by nature creatures who avoid risk at all costs, might rely on this atmosphere as it shifts the blame for “failure” from them to the employees, but I can’t see true leaders doing this.
There’s a difference between making a mistake and taking a business risk that fails. Some mistakes are personal or personally career affecting while others are failures to the business. All deserve compassion. Feeling that your leader has your back and will help you gain face with your public by showing outward support is important to rebuild when the blunder is public. When the mistake is private or personal, just giving the person an opportunity to get back on their feet, so to speak, can be the most compassionate move. In the face of a business risk the leader sets the course for whether the organization is risk adverse. And I do find it sad when leaders penalize people who’ve failed because I’ve noticed that all leaders have a “I once screwed up” story where someone gave them an opportunity to redeem themselves. Pay it forward.
Thanks Lucille. The terms compassion, business, and leadership should come together more frequently.
For me, the key is learning. Did I and/or my staff learn something valuable from this situation, does it provide some direction now, and can we apply this learning in the future.
Is there ever a time to give up on someone? Especially when it’s an attitude or character issue and when they are unwilling to change?
5I completely disagree with #5 “Are deeply embarrassed and are likely to retain the lesson” Significant embarrassment ought not have a place in a learning organization. What is more important is if the individual is highly aware of the circumstances leading to the failure point and the learning agility to not make the same mistake twice. We can’t tout the importance of an environment where mistakes are a o.k. and a platform for learning while on the back end expecting people to be highly embarassed everytime they make one.
Hey Dan,
So, would imagine that the leader probably became that leader because someone else gave her/him a bucketful of second chances…unless the biz was inherited. If the leader expects perfection, s/he will always be disappointed because that factors out being human and probably factors out passion, motivation, and dedication. My suggestion would be to take that leader out on a sailboat and have him/her get from point A to point B by sailing in a ‘perfectly’ straight line.
To respond your second question first, it’s all in the prep phase. You have those dialogues (not a monologue) with each person which Brian M covered very well. Aligned with those expectations can be the Vision, Mission, and Values. The value of celebrating mistakes and failure means you/we are learning/growing (or at least the opportunity is there.) There is no greater measure of an organization, a leader, or individual that how one reacts to failure, how one supports those who have failed. Owning AND sharing mistakes is the mark of a powerful culture. Do the goals that are set early on align with VMV and do they incorporate learning markers along the way.
The first question might be a bit trickier. When human life is at risk or core values of a culture seriously threatened or damaged should there be a second (or nod to Martina, a third) chance? Serious, shared introspection would be needed. Fortunately, outside of those two realms and perhaps a few other gray zones, the responses in this column do apply.
“Good morning Dan”
We all make mistakes and deserve a second chance. Mistakes often provide great learning opportunities. When dealing with new employees always keep in mind these folks rarely come to your company with a wealth of experience. Set obtainable goals while providing them with the tools to get the job done. Most importantly, “never forget a sincere ‘atta-boy’ for a job well done”. Maintaining positive communications on both ends when addressing mistakes shows your people you’ve got faith in them. People are far more likely to do very best for leaders who show real concern toward those who work for them. These situations frequently lead to good working relationships, espesially when built on a foundation of respect. ‘Stay thirsty my friend’… Steve
Leaders are ahead..so lets say they also has the overall view of your action..of course, each one has a scope to work within a scale/capacity..if leader is in control then he is actually giving himself a second chance 😉 In achieving any goals, there are many variables, locally and internationally..so in order to atain a goal, there are risk involved and returns..this is a bit unseen..like walking on the rope that keeps changing its end ..so performance of an individual has to be prompt and effective..any point of failure that was beyonf control deserves a second chance..when everything happened / resulted as planned..except a misfortune.
If, we can always give ourself a second chance we can give another person one too 😉
Dear Dan,
Good leaders really work on this strategy which is useful from a long-term point of view.
Mistakes are tolerable so long as it’s part of human error and there is a lesson to be learnt. An exception could be the financial irregularities/lapses or sexual harassment. The sincere, honest and loyal people are given a chance to continue with a required apology and better care in future.
The strategy has to be on a case-to-case basis and on the severity of damages. It can’t be generalized. A human touch needs to be weighed against the professional discipline and the work culture.
Great article!
Under Worth the risk… I look for ownership and maturity. If they are mature enough to own their error, then absolutely a second chance is beneficial. If they fail to “man up”, I would give it a second look.
Mike
An opportunity presented itself last summer to offer a second chance to an employee who had found their way into a position that was entirely unsuited for their skill set. The person was in complete agreement and realized a change of position was required. Although it was a risk, it turned out fine, and I believe the combination of self-realization the person had plus the faith extended to them made the difference.
True as Bill has stated Failure should not be the cause for rejecting an individual if the failure is due to genuine reasons…and not stories become success stories ..the sincerity in approach is required to be seen.
A second chance will ignite passion and earn loyalty to the organisation for deposing faith in the individual….
Many managers constantly forget that, in the past, failed innovations and projects–and subsequently learning from them–have led to great improvements for teams and positive outcomes.
I have been on a team before where our leader admonished every failed attempt at improvement, instead of gathering colleagues together and asking, “what can we learn from what happened?”
Oy vey; so many missed opportunities to be better!
Without second chances no one would succeed. We all make mistakes. Learning and successfully reacting to the failures is what makes us grow. As a leader, when someone fails, it gives an oppurtunity to help them grow and also helps develop a stronger bond between the two of you. When the bond is strong, then your influence can be even more powerful to them. This will hopefully, help them fail fewer times as they seek your advice and guidance.
This post is so timely for me. After watching a team struggle with this very issue, it took me some time to chunk down the issues into priorities and realize that the failures continually happening and expressed as needed to grow – were not being followed through with some key pieces:
Clearly communicating the goals or expectations.
Coaching – A leader who continually and often falls back to “I have to let my team fail to learn” must also be able to follow through with development and coaching opportunities.
Accountability – A leader who does not hold others accountable and who is not 100% accountable themselves, is not doing anyone a favor – (and creates or prolongs issues).
Second chances are almost always appropriate. One has to get up each day and assume that everyone acts with the best intent. There are exceptions, and that’s likely a different topic – forming one’s processes and practices around exceptions can be a time waster.
Second chances are important. If you don’t feel comfortable to make a mistake, you never learn. Continuous learning is necessary for all people including leaders.
I think second chances are great.
Second chances are worth it when you also build in a mechanism to improve upon the first effort by incorporating the lessons learned. Essentially, you tweak your second chance by ensuring that the lessons learned are accounted for, including any other things you can anticipate, and sticking to the purposes, values, and intentions of the effort overall.
When no mistakes are made, it’s a sure bet that we aren’t trying enough new things.
Second chances will grow the organizations. Getting rid of someone after one failure will teach the rest of the organization that risks are not safe. That is a formula for stagnation.
Dauna
I agree w/ bill about those scenarios when second chances are worth the risk. Good read. Would love a copy of the “Leaders Open Doors” book. I follow you on twitter: @DexBadgett. Thanks!
As a leader you have to be able to foster Innovation by allowing for “second chances”. The key I believe is to have a retrospective to see why they needed a second chance, and what they would do differently next time. Second chances are about Learning also and if they don’t learn anything from a second chance then it is more likely you will be giving them a third and fourth chance…
If there is a culture of risk taking, then we must accept failure. Not all risks turn out to be a direction we may want to go. We learn from them and move on, or we realize what needs changing or fixing and address it.
Failure is not an option, it is a necessity (I can’t remember where I got that quote from, but I have it posted above my desk)
Darryl
Second chances, when following these guidelines, make a lot of sense. Another component, it seems to me, is an open culture where it’s understood by all why some mistakes lead to more accountability and other mistakes don’t necessarily have this consequence. Too often, I think, different employees face different consequences for mistakes that aren’t openly discussed, and teams can end up divided by what are perceived as unfair responses from the leader. Perhaps a key strategy is to review mistakes together, so that the response to them makes sense to all, and so the tendency to hide errors and consider them shameful is reduced. Just a few thoughts.
Your blog is great and I enjoy reading it. Leadership is such a vital area in every life and I compliment you on your balance of addressing issues every leader faces.
I am the beneficiary of my fair share of second chances, which only emphasizes the need for me to give others another try.
It would be awesome to get a copy 🙂 and this is timely for our group right now. Second chances is the order of the day! Thanks!
Appropriate/inappropriate:
I have many times used the philosophy of one time shame on you, two tes shame on me.
If it is an honest mistake then by all means give a second chance. Gen Colin Powell when he was just a boot officer lost his piece. If his superiors had not given him the second chance… The individual must take and own it. Ownership.
Additionally I truly believe if you give the non-deserving a second chance, you will lose all credibility with the rest of your subordinates and your row just became a lot harder to hoe.
Mistakes always foster learning. When an employee or volunteer makes a mistake and it is not the result of intentional irresponsibility, they acknowledge and claim the error, and determine to make changes to avoid that in the future, a second chance is appropriate. In this case, the person involved (and all coworkers/co-volunteers learn that this is a place where they can take risks in the pursuit of excellence. That group will be innovative and move forward. When a second chance is not given in the same circumstance, everyone learns that there is no grace here and they strive to do only what is expected and avoid the risk of innovation which will ultimately stagnate the organization.
When an error is not claimed, blame is directed at others, or the character of the person is such that they are routinely negligent, a second chance is not warranted. This decision will also teach the team that honesty and integrity are valued and expected by leadership.
Any way you slice it, a lesson is learned by all and the organization will either move ahead or lag behind as a result of the decisions and actions of leadership.
FAILURE is another tool that, if used correctly, EMPOWERS leaders & EQUIPS risk takers. The book sounds like something I can use within the Church body to ENABLE them to use their gifts, talents, & abilities to take their place.
Worth the risk when… failing again will not harm them, you, or the larger group (department, company, society, family).
We should be dare to take risk as risk means opportunity for us to grow.
We need to dare to take risk as risk means opportunity to get close to success. we must keep on trying and trying until we succeed. Never say die
Second chances are interesting. We feel we deserve them, yet quite often, are hesitant to extend them. What does this say about us?
People aren’t perfect. How could anyone thrive in an environment when that’s expected? With that comes a fear to try anything that isn’t “safe”–like children learning to spell who only want to write stories with the words they know!
Hi Dan!
I have been here, more than once. 😉
Giving second chances can be complicated. I discovered that I had particular meausurement guidelines for determing when I was willing to put in the work to support someone in getting a second chance. I believe giving second chances while upholding standards requires a personal commitment to the support of the person to recover from their failure.
To give a second chance I need to determine if the person is actually interested to do and be different(ly). The person needs to convince me that they are accountable for what they have done, and that they truly believe in the value of transforming their failure into a success by rolling around in the failure and acccepting that the failure is not an experience to be put behind them, but actually a fantastic learning opportunity. The comfier we can get with our failures, the less power they have over us and the more informative they become.
If I can’t give a second chance it is primarily because I would be more committed to it than the person who would recieve it. Now, this does not mean that I don’t believe that everyone deserves a second chance, but I am not always the person to provide that second chance. I work to live by example: support when supporting does not draw from your own health. Yes, maintanance of personal health is part of business.
Thanks for providing the chance to share this.
Pixie
Failing Forward is an important notion to grasp. Leaders need to be aware of it and use the lessons of the failure to move the team and organization forward.
I really liked Toyota’s method of setting goals. They say if you know how to get there, the challenge is simply not there. In order for the goal to challenge the team and individual, the solutions cannot be evident. That is, as the article says, being fully prepared is being too or overprepared. When setting goals, you cannot know all the steps to get there.
If you set up goals that way, you can be certain that when you or the team fail to deliver that result, it is not because you were lazy when setting the goal or cant say that the team did not stretch to get there.
I believe second chances are appropriate when the person involved warrants it. If new and unproven or established with a good track record, you as a manager need to instill faith in them. On the flip side, an established employee with a lack of motivated is not going to grow it instantaneously. As with all management scenarios, you have to weigh how to deal with who you are dealing. Inspect what you expect with respect.
Can you even be considered a leader if you are unable to give second chances? In my humble opinion, no. Or at least you’ll end up just being a leader in name only.
Part of being a leader is supporting your people in success and failure; and to guide and encourage them when they come up short. No one is not worth the chance at a second chance.
The philosophy I use with my staff is that everything is a either a “training” or “learning” opportunity. Everyone gets many chances, and are expected to try things on their own.
Fascinating & practical.
The only people that don’t make mistakes are those who dont do anything
That is an interesting topic that you don’t hear people talk about. I guess that it does make sense because one of the best ways to learn is through failure. I look forward to exploring this topic some more.
Thanks Dan.
Just started following Mr. Maxwell on Twitter and a few other leaders. It has been so inspiring–I want to leave average behind.
Sorry, slip of the tongue so to speak, Mr. Rockwell
I have had to give many of chances to a few folks. Some came back strong and others got worse. For those who got better, I allowed room for failure for the purpose of growth. But for those who kept failing, especially when their failures are potential threats to their own life and the lives of others they had to leave. I always after a period of time try to make peace, forgive, and reconcile but working with me or my team is not an option. To allow it and the team not approve of it is folly and a failure on my part.
I am a firm believer in allowing failure, as long as the people involved are willing and able to truly learn from it. I have worked at many companies that do post-mortems/project retrospectives afterwards just because that is what you do.
If you have someone who messed up, but you feel he/she learned from the experience, give them a second, third, fifteenth chance. They are better for the experience and you are better for their experience.
I wish we’d hear more of this in leadership circles. Second chances are pivotal.
When repentance of action is experienced, a second chance should be given.
As a fresh graduate, and a newly young professional (actually started full-time work today!), second chances are going to play out for me in my career. My career is in social media, and as must know, there is no cookie cutter way to manage social media. What may work for one client, may not work for another, even though they may be in the same industry.
The social media boutique I work at is still fairly new, only around for about two years. So they know about mistakes and second chances already. I’m in a great position because when I fail, since I’ve established a great relationship with my bosses already, they can instruct me on where things went wrong, provide examples they’ve learned from, and we can move on from there.
There’s nothing wrong with second chances. As you mentioned, we learn from failure, and when we are given a second chance, even a third or fourth sometimes, we become more devoted and loyal to seeing success for our company or brand. With that said…I hope I fail at some point, so I can analyze the situation, work it out with my bosses, and try again. Failure is needed, we shouldn’t be scared of it. Without failure, we would not have so many wonderful things we have today!
We live in a world where people want perfection. What many peoeple don’t realize is that failure is an excellent way to learn valuable lessons that make us better leaders in the long run. There has to be a balance from our leaders to subordinates through mentor ship that provides a safe, secure, and cost effective way from learning from our failures.
I was approached by my boss 6 months ago and told that I was being promoted into a leadership position at work… something I neither asked for or wanted. Managing people was something that I never had a desire to do because it involved a great deal of “transparency”. It also meant that I would have to be a lot more understanding as I deal with multiple personalities on a daily basis. I’ve come to embrace my new role as a leader and while it’s not easy, I now realize that it’s what I’m built for. Leadership is humbling and I’m more open giving people second chances when I look at the mistakes I make as I work to become an effective leader. I can’t imagine where I’d be professionally or personally if someone hadn’t given me a second chance.
It makes me think about the power of a track record when it comes to second chances. If all we do is give second chances, performance doesn’t matter.
I am giving a second chance today for someone who handled a tough situation poorly and had an unfortunate outcome. This second chance will be accompanied by a bit more oversight, but will also be a great opportunity. I’m hoping the second chance will be met with optimism and excitement, but I’m a bit nervous that it will be met with pessimism and result in a poor outcome.
This is a great post. The idea of second chances are important to our society. Many times we see leaders or employees terminated or not given second chances. Obviously depending on the situation it may not warrant a second chance, but like the post mentions you are often losing out on potential. After putting in time and effort into someone to develop them it is a waste to let then go and have to start all over. Second chances can be a helpful teaching and learning tool for employees and leaders.
My best friend is a leader at a top consulting group and he would help me with my financial mistakes by giving me a chance to pay off a loan he made to me, but putting penalties in place if I transgressed again. This was second chance with responsibility.
A tricky part of this is that often times, others in the organization do not see all of the context in which you are giving the 2nd chance. They just see – hey, person x failed, and the leader doesnt seem to care!
How do you communicate the context to the broader organization without giving out to many personal details?
My late father always asked me to remember ” there is no such thing as failure just the opportunity to try again and find a better way”
Paul
Action is not reaction. Think…
Loved this post. A few months ago, I was granted a “second chance” after my new manager made it very clear that she wanted to get rid of me. Another manager who knew of my “long track record of adding value” to the company asked our CEO for an exception to the current “no new headcount rule” so I could join his organization. He told our CEO that he would hire me in a heartbeat. And, permission granted, he did.
What I have observed is that in many cases failures happen when leaders let the person on their own without checking on them or setting clear expectations.
I personally would give second chances with specific expectations on what happens if there’s another high impact mistake.
This assumes the person is honestly aware of their responsibility in the mistake instead of making excuses.
This reminds me of the TED talk by the British gentleman who talks about creativity being squashed by the educational system which is designed to tell people they are wrong. Discovery requires mistakes as essential steps in creating new things or perfecting existing things. Second chances are responsible for everything worthwhile.
The issues raised by the discussion on second chances are completely valid. When an employee makes a catastrophic mistake in their career, how do we bring them back into the fold? Many of them will be cast out by their peers and viewed as damaged goods. How do your organizations reintroduce them into the fold and make them productive members of the team that have a future with the company?
Leaders who give second chances understand the failing forward concept.
Second chances are given to those who earn them. Nice article, Dan.
Failing a task or missing an opportunity is never fun. But if I hadn’ t been given a second chance, I even would not be able to walk today ;-). Do, fail, learn, succeed are all connected.
Love your leadership quotes! Please enter me in the book drawing.
I’ve been given many second chances, and this fact helped me to grow and learn, and thus I learned that giving second chances, also builds the trust relationship. The one trick to this is to, when someone makes a mistake, guide them through the consequences, because it does not help to keep on giving second chances without that person learning and growing.
I have always promoted an open culture; open as in free speech; don’t assume, get the facts. If you fail; try again but learn from it. This promoted my staff from production technicians to sales personnel and senior managers to ask me questions or challenge my thoughts. In quarter up dates I would spell out (every time) that failure is good! However its only good if you learn from it and i used examples of myself esp when i became MD of my family business. I think i hid behind my computer screen for 6 months thinking “how do you manager production people!” (one example)
My stories helped our culture. I agree with Bill that people become deeply loyal and deeply committed. My team were just that and this cascaded down into the mini teams within the company.
Its good to fail but you must learn why and not to make the same mistake twice.
Another camp director was interviewing for a position at a large camp. After listening to all of the people on the committee talk about their commitment to change and growth and asking him their questions, they offered him a chance to ask a question. He asked one. “Do I have permission to fail?” The committee was confused at first. They talked it over and finally said, “Well, no.” He declined the job on the spot. He explained that, if they really want change, they have to be open minded to risk. They are going to have to try new things. And sometimes, new things fail. Now, when I hire someone new, I explain their freedom to fail.
We hired a young man for the fourth time 14 months ago. He is honoring the accountability we established, he is flourishing. Even I questioned myself, are you really hing him for the forth time?
Dan,
Do you think we are becoming more risk adverse and less tolerant of people who try hard but make honest mistakes? Are we becoming so accustomed to a world where everything is available right at our fingertips online all the time, that we forget that what we have and any progress we have made has always been preceded by a learning curve that includes things that don’t go quite as planned?
I hear a lot of people in a lot of companies saying we need more innovation and we were better at innovating before. Perhaps the reason for our perceived lack of innovation is just that we don’t want to accept the mistakes, failures, set-backs and other circumstances that stand between us and the innovations we seek.
In a lot of countries these days, kids growing up aren’t allowed to fail in school (too frail to fail, I guess) nor are they allowed to lose in sports. Everyone gets a medal.
Now that some of these kids are growing up, we wonder why they are like they are and why they think their mediocrity deserves a medal if they show up for work on time 3 or 4 times a week. Maybe instead of letting them “win” at first attempt, we should have let them lose or fail, and then given them a second chance to show their improvement.
Stay safe,
Paul
I agree that giving a second chance is a valid option for leaders to consider. As long as “making failure an option doesn’t mean failure doesn’t matter”. Getting the balance right can be quite a challenge. I had to learn this the hard way.
Love your site. Great posts.
Dear Dan,
I agree that second chance wins loyalty. It ignites passion for excellence. I feel it all depends upon target. If the target is incorrigible liar and opportunist, he or she will never be loyal or committed. In fact, every time, it is an opportunity of him. It happens because every chance is opportunity and liar will do it intentionally. On the other hand, when lie is done in ignorance, giving second chance could prove successful. Such kind of second chance may win loyalty and commitment. So, I think, who the target is, determines loyalty. Hence, it is appropriate to give second chance to ignorant and the one who accepts and promises to do better.
Leaders can give second chance without lowering standards by raising the bar. They can gain trust by providing second chance. It is important to note that in giving second chance, leaders need to strengthen trust and confidence level of target. Giving second chance by losing trust and confidence may not prove successful strategy.
Sorry I missed this post yesterday. Would love to read that book. Sometimes children come before tweets!
12 years ago I would often wonder why my mentor would offer second, third and sometimes even fourth chances to people. He never did without a conversation of course and a period of close evaluation… and perhaps the 2nd and 3rd chances were not as crucial projects as the first, but through the years I’ve seen some of those very same people develop because he didn’t just give up on them and become tremendous and vital parts of our and other organizations. Their potential wasn’t squashed but pulled out of them. Great stuff.
This is absolutely fantastic and true. As a pastor, I am not just responsible for being over leaders, but training leaders and I have often wondered about second chances and how many chances to give. But something I usually find is that people are worth the risk, especially teenagers. If they have room to make mistakes then they also have room to grow.
I read almost every one of your posts, thank you for making your wisdom available!
….and real leaders do not humiliate, they attempt to bring people along and help their awareness and growth.
I was blown away by the following “Successful second chances don’t accept mediocrity. They ignite passion for excellence.” The statement is so true if the person is up for the challenge. Unfortunately some people do not use their failure as a catapult to the next success. They only see the failure, not the opportunity.
Second chances are vital when in leadership. I have found that the best leaders make mistakes because they are willing to try the untried and prove the unproven. Without second chances we would miss out on many breakthroughs.
Dan,
I think one of the things that some may not realize is that if an organization claims the business model, second chances are less likely to be given. This may have been said before in a previous comment.
Working in a church we are all about second chances except when it comes to pastoral staff, which seems a little odd and backwards.
Thanks for all of your insight!!
YIC,
Pr. Darian L. Hybl
It is so hard to know when a mistake is just a mistake or a sign of something bigger. I’m all about people making mistakes if they are giving full effort and are fully trained!
We all fall short w/o 2nd chance! Thank you Dan for this incredible post. I would not be where I am today w/o all the 2nd chances granted to me. … And personally, I think everyone deserve 77 chances if they need it to make right.
I’m not going to lie…I’d love a free copy of the book!
It’s called encouragement!
If I was not given second chances throughout my life I would not be the man I am today. Since that is the case, what justification could there possibly be to not extend the gift given to me unto others?
How can leaders give second chances without lowering standards?
I think leaders can very easily give second chances without lowering standards. Lowering standards means they are expecting something other than what is needed/required to perform to get the job done right. Keeping the standards where they are or higher gives the person the opportunity to strive past where they thought they could go.
It’s great when you form it in words of encouragement rather than “I’m giving you another chance”.
Wow, how appropriate of a subject. Lately one of my best friend has had a moral failure and I’ve wondered if it was worth trying to help him and if it was even the right thing to do. This blog definitely helps being clarity onto the subject, and I look forward to reading more about it in this book!
There is no better way to gain strong followers than to support your team as they grow, and occasionally make mistakes. And although an atmosphere of ‘trust but verify’ is always prudent, growth depends on trial and error. Just the awareness that mistakes don’t have to be fatal empowers action, innovation, and commitment to the team and the leader. Great article. Thanks for sharing the insight.
I am a firm believer that making mistakes is part of the learning and development process and enjoy coaching people to success. As such I would love to read what useful insights are in this book.
So important to have open communication and teach out of the box there is no box type of thinking, leading, doing collaborative teamwork. Second chances is why every human being that is alive today is still alive. Life is one BIG Playground of trial and error. Playing small serves nobody. Would Love to read your book
Leaders with big goals and long term vision understand creating an environment that inspires achievement. When you give your team permission to Fail Forward, you provide an environment that nurtures excellence and the willingness to try new things, new ways to accomplish more than ever before. Progress comes through/with some failure — when your team knows that you will support overall progress, sometimes giving them a second chance — you will begin to see tremendous growth. Of cours, parameters, boundaries in place for personal and team accountability…you will begin to see tremendous growth, loyalty and cultivate excellence in the organization.
Firstly, my biggest and most challengi9ng question is “when is the mistake big enough” to be fired or to be given a second change. Dipping into the petty cash for $1000 or making an operational error which cost the company a million dollars? I too am of the opinion that we as leaders/managers has a co-responsibility for managing growth and development and thus for “increasing” possibilities of errors/mistakes/misdemeanors! By retaining and thus giving an EE a second change we are also developing and growing that EE are we not – he/she might be 95% “perfect” and failed … cost of replacing that EE vs supporting that EE may mean thousands if not millions! By support I mean effective coaching, re-skilling or re-training as he/she may just go to another company and make the same (related) mistake whilst we now have the chance of nullifying that from happening again! Could this make sense … would it make a difference to the one who dipped into the petty cash? I say YES …