What Winter Olympians Showed About Leading Through Failure
Like many others, I spent a little over two weeks captivated with the Winter Olympics. My favorite sports to watch are biathlon, figure skating, and this year I really got into the halfpipe competitions. But this year, I was struck by something we all saw, and what it means for our own personal leadership principles.
We’ve all seen the footage. A world-class Winter Olympian—a short-track speed skater, a figure skater, a curler – catches an edges, loses their balance, or pushes the rock a little too hard. In a heartbeat, an athlete on top of their game fails in their mission in front of the entire world.
Figure 1. Adeliia Petrosian falls during the free skate competition. Image courtesy of Getty Images
I first noticed it during the figure skating competitions. Ilia Malinin, Amber Glenn, Adam Siao Him Fa, and many other skaters had errors in their competitions. Athletes who were otherwise performing spectacularly would fall, instantly eliminating them (practically) from an Olympic medal. But every single time, the skater gets back up immediately. Why? Because dwelling on the error, regretting the turn, or nursing the immediate pain (however justified) will not help them reach the finish line.
This is an example of leadership. Specifically, what I refer to as “personal leadership”.
In business, we often frame 'resilience' as bouncing back later. True leadership resilience is rapid resetting. When a product launch fails, a critical presentation bombs, or funding falls through, a leader must process the shock instantly, push off the ice, re-engage, and figure out what it takes to accomplish the goal. The timeline for recovery defines the trajectory of the response. A leader’s speed of reset dictates the team’s reset speed.
How do we take that raw, instinctive athlete energy and apply it to a failing corporate project? Because the fact is, in sport, business, and life, we are all going to find a point where we failed. The biggest difference becomes whether or not you fail properly
Figure 2. Ilia Malinin mid-fall. Notice he immediately recognizes the situation, and despite the mistake, he continues to skate.
This is what failing properly looks like in leadership:
Acknowledge the Data, Fast: The leader doesn't hide the failing graph, the red goals, the poor client pitch; she highlights it. “This is what we set out to do, this is what happened, this is why, and this is how we will do better.” A leader’s job isn't to prevent all failures, but to illuminate them quickly so the team can learn. The curler who pushed the rock too hard and lost the end for his team immediately recognizes what went wrong, and acknowledges it.
Neutralize Blame: The focus is not on who fell, but what we do next. The skater doesn't blame the ice; she checks her skates. The leader doesn't blame the team; she identifies the cause, and looks at how to improve.
Redirect the Energy: The adrenaline of the crash is immediately channeled into the pivot. Yuma Kagiyama tripped in his sequence, and still earned the silver. The leader rallies herself and the team to look at what they learned, what to do next, and how best to move forward.
What is the result of failing properly? Learning, growth, and rapid innovation.
Think of properly failing as research and development. You’ve identified the cause, and can now craft a plan to address the cause and lead to success the next time. Because just as surely as there will be another Olympics, there will be a next time for you, as well. You also build psychological safety for your teams, as you signal that growth is welcome, and encouraged.
When an Olympian falls, they do not just get back up. They absorb the moment, process the failure instantly, and redirect that kinetic energy back into the race. They lead by example. This leader is not afraid to catch an edge, attempt a quad lux, or try to knock away a blocker. She is not afraid to see the graph crash, a goal turn red, or a client walk away. She knows that when she pushes off the ice with determination, she is building the foundation for the future breakthrough. And when she pivots, she is showing the team how to do it, and how to innovate, as well.
Fail properly. Learn from it, figure out how you can improve, and continue your forward momentum. Sound Talent Strategies can work with your leaders to develop the skills to quickly analyze and recover from failures and mistakes, leading to better growth in their leadership and in your business.
The Accidental Manager and Team Burnout
It all begins with an idea.
If you feel like your management layer is more of a mushy middle than a powerhouse, you’re not alone. I’ve been seeing it repeatedly over the years, and the data supports it. Recent Gartner research shows a startling disconnect: only 35% of HR leaders are satisfied with their mid-level managers. Even worse? Only 38% of employees actually like their boss, and less than half trust them. The problem isn't necessarily that people are bad at managing—it’s that they don’t actually want the job.
The Rise of the Reluctant Manager
Most of us have seen the typical corporate ladder in some form like this: keep moving up until you hit the manager rungs. Then, you keep going up, but only as a manager, or, you stagnate your career. We take our best individual performers, give them a team, and think “they’re a high performer, so they will do great!”
The result? As many as 82% of managers are “accidental” managers, including 25% of senior leaders, and the impacts are staggering. The Chartered Management Institute found that employees dissatisfied with their managers are not just dissatisfied with their jobs compared to those with effective managers by a 3-to-1 ratio, but are significantly more likely to leave within the year. Moreover, managers themselves can feel less engaged with the work, proving less effective in leading their teams to drive results.
So, how do you stop the reluctant manager problem?
Stop the "Surprise" Promotion
Most management selection is backward-looking. We promote people because they were great at their previous job, not because they’ll be great at the new one.
To prevent reluctant managers from taking the keys, start having the conversation early to demystify the role.
Simulate the Stress: Give candidates a taste of the “manager” stuff—workload prioritization, difficult performance reviews, and budget calibration.
Provide Mentorship: Only 26% of managers get to talk to a peer about the realities of the job before starting. Change that. Pair them with a current manager for some "real talk."
The Safe Off-Ramp: Create a culture where a candidate can say, "Actually, I’ve seen the job and it’s not for me," without it being a career-killer.
Diagnose the Reluctance
If you already have managers who seem checked out, they are not yet a lost cause. Figure out if their reluctance is addressable (they’re just overwhelmed) or entrenched (they fundamentally hate the work). Talk to your leader to see if they are frustrated with some current but temporary challenge, or with a challenge that is inherent to the role. Are some functions dull or perhaps awkward? Or do they make your leader uncomfortable?
Your leaders may need coaching to learn how to apply new skills to their new role. Or perhaps they need help establishing new habits that makes the admin of management quicker and easier.
The Bottom Line
When a manager doesn’t want to be there, everyone knows it. But when a manager is engaged, they are four times more likely to be high contributors, and those efforts cascade to their teams, in turn developing better future leaders. Investing in a selection process that ensures people actually want the job isn't just "nice to have"—it’s a retention strategy.
Facing this problem with your company? Let’s set up some time to discuss how you can help!
The start of a new era
It all begins with an idea.
My dad was an airline pilot, and for a little while – though, truthfully, during my remember-nothing years – he owned his own small cargo airline. From him, I grew up with an interest in airplanes, and at one point imagined what it would be like to start my own airline. I wasn’t so much interested in, say, taking over an established one, or working up the corporate ladder at one of the big ones. I was much more interested in starting one, figuring out how we’d be different and would grow.
As I grew and my interests evolved, I would occasionally entertain the fancy of my own little startup. In high school, I had, what I still maintain was, the original concept for iTunes – though in my mind it was a service that would burn CDs with your selected songs and mail it to you. Still, the common barrier to these ideas centered around this thought – “I don’t actually know how to do this.”
Today, I open the doors for Sound Talent Strategies, which, for me, provides an opportunity to scratch that business-owner itch, without that self-restricting barrier. After decades in the Talent Development and Human Resources fields, I decided to launch Sound Talent Strategies to help our small- and medium-sized businesses, startups, and growing companies set up their talent departments in a way to best support their business and future growth.
I first found my passion for the field when I was serving in the Marine Corps. After a couple deployments, I was put in charge of training our battalion’s pre-deployment teams. I loved seeing teams work together through our training programs, and comparing the teams and individuals at the end of our programs to how they were performing at the start, and sharing those improvements. I learned a lot about human development and how people learn through experiences, and I decided to pursue this field after my military service. Since then, I’ve had the pleasure of working for higher education institutions and the corporate world, during which I’ve had the pleasure to learn more about the human resources field at large.
My goal is to work with clients to develop holistic approaches to developing and growing their talent. For some, that might be a specific leadership development opportunity focusing on specific outcomes. For others, that might be a broader project in a specific area that they need help in. And still, for some, it may be more of a generalist need that can handle the day-to-day during times of transition.
I encourage you to check out the different services Sound Talent Strategies offers, and if you’d like to learn more, let’s chat! I also encourage you to come back for a visit, as I’ll be using this blog to share some thoughts on talent-related issues and questions throughout the year. Thanks for visiting, and I look forward to getting to know you!