Failure CV for leaders is a game changer

Hey

Now, before you roll your eyes, thinking this is just another corporate gimmick — stay with me. This one’s different. And honestly, I wish someone had told me about it years ago.

Here’s the deal:

We’re all pros at polishing our LinkedIn profiles, right?
Promotions, awards, big wins — we put them all out there like shiny trophies.

But when was the last time you actually documented the stuff that went wrong?
The projects that crashed.
The hires you regretted.
The decisions that felt right at the time — but absolutely flopped later.

Because here’s the plot twist — those failures,
they’re probably your best leadership lessons hiding in plain sight.

Why Bother Writing a Failure CV?

Look, I’m not asking you to wallow in past screw-ups.
This isn’t some self-pity scrapbook.

The idea is to analyze those moments — like a detective retracing clues — to figure out:
👉 What exactly went sideways?
👉 What patterns show up again and again?
👉 Which behaviors of yours (yes, yours — not just the team’s) played a role?

And here’s where it gets spicy — CEOs who’ve experienced failure are statistically 20% more likely to lead high-performing companies.
Why?
Because they don’t bury their mistakes under motivational quotes.
They dissect them.
They build mental guardrails so they don’t trip on the same stones twice.

Elon Musk Did This — And Saved Tesla

Quick story — in 2016, Musk bet big on a fully automated Tesla production line.
Robots everywhere. Humans? Almost unnecessary.

Spoiler: It was a disaster.
Production slowed to a crawl. Cars piled up undelivered.

Musk could’ve blamed the tech, the engineers, the economy — the usual suspects.
But nope. He tweeted:
“Excessive automation at Tesla was a mistake. To be precise, my mistake.”

He scrapped the over-automation plan and rebalanced humans + machines — and today, Tesla’s one of the most efficient carmakers on the planet.

Your Turn: Build Your Own Failure CV

You don’t need a PR disaster to get started on this.
All it takes is a few honest reflections.

Write down 3-5 professional setbacks that still sting a little.
Ask yourself:

• What led to each one?

• What assumptions did I make that turned out wrong?

• What personal habits (micromanaging? avoiding tough conversations? ignoring data?) played a role?

• Look for patterns.
  Do you rush decisions when things get chaotic?
  Do you lean too much on gut instinct—or too much on data paralysis?
  Do you hesitate to ask for help until it’s too late?

Trust me, once you spot your personal leadership patterns, it’s like suddenly seeing the cheat codes to your own career growth.

Try This Today:

Take 5 minutes after this email and write down 1 failure that taught you something real.
Just 1.
If you want to share it, hit reply — I’d love to hear your story.

After all, leadership isn’t about avoiding mistakes.
It’s about learning faster from the ones you do make.

Let’s build better Failure CVs — and better leadership — together.

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