Fail By Example
May 13, 2002
A lot of men think the best leaders are those who
have a track record of uninterrupted successes. With that in
mind they feverishly work to cover up past failures and magnify
every success. And yet, nothing inspires others more than seeing
a man who not only won a few battles but lost a few as well.
We must dispel from our minds the idea that strong
men never fail. Journalist, Richard J. Needham once said,
"Strong people make as many ghastly mistakes as weak people. The
difference is that strong people admit them, laugh at them,
learn from them. That is how they become strong." Powerful
insight! Don't you agree?
An excellent example would be David's Mighty Men.
Did you know they were not always "mighty?" In Second Samuel
22:2 it says of these men, "All those who were in distress or
debt or discontented gathered around him (David), and he became
their leader."
For whatever reason these future mighty men hadn't
succeeded in King Saul's army. In fact, they hadn't done too
well in any facet of life. None of them had been voted, "Most
Likely to Succeed," by the faculty of their Ivy League School.
Their picture had not appeared on the cover of the Time
magazine, "Man of the Year" edition. Nobody had nominated them
for a good citizen award. On the contrary, these men had been
thrown into the meat grinder of life and emerged emotionally
battered and mentally distraught. These men had suffered a
string of financial and relational setbacks. And when God
inspired the writing of their story he didn't cover up their
bleak history, he highlighted it.
These men became strong because they learned how,
by God's grace, to overcome failure. And if you want to exercise
strong leadership with your family, at work, or in any other
setting--allow others to see you fail. The fact is--those
closest to you already know that you periodically fail. And you
can bet that they're watching to see how you'll respond when you
stumble. If you pretend it wasn't a failure, or minimize it, or
become cynical or stop dreaming because of the failure, they
will learn from that as well.
Wives, children, fellow-workers, and friends, do
not need to see perfection in you. They need to see an authentic
man who is in process. One who admits when he stumbles, get ups,
wipes off the dust, and moves on with more determination. As
Mighty Men we must learn to fail by example.
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