How to Bounce Back from Failure.

What does the phrase “Bounce back” mean? I remember one of my friends reiterating the fact how he was a good bike rider, every time we came close to a “near miss” experience with other vehicles on the road. The incident happened recently and his explanation came as a response to my evident fear and subsequent request to “be on the safer side of the road”. He didn’t like hearing that, much as the Gen Y lot of entrepreneurs who take pride in having made peace with their failures. As I was still reeling off the near miss incident on the road, my biker friend explained to me his version of looking at incidents such as these: “You must compare this journey with the journey of life. We come into this world, learn the ropes, come face-to-face with hiccups and learn to bounce back to focus ‘on the road ahead’. Have the right attitude, learn from mistakes and move on.” I was dumbfounded at the analogy drawn and thanked my friend for the explanation that hit the bull’s eye, aside from giving me food for thought for my current article.

If only it was easier done than said.

Everyone is bound to face failures in different stages of life. The ones who claim to have remained unaffected by it are either lying or aren’t as successful as those who have failed (been there) and collected themselves right back up (done that). If you are averse to facing failures, chances are that you are browbeaten by the growth possibilities it offers. Let us see how overcoming failure can be a mix of resilience and the right attitude.

Solving is Necessary: Be realists and be optimists. Keep ready with a B-plan when faced with a sudden problem. Become a problem solver and don’t fret about the bygones.

Shift the Focus: Don’t focus on yourself when grey skies have engulfed you. Remember, the farther you are from negativity, the more insight, positivity and wisdom you can gain from your encounter with the failure.

What’s in the Name? Oh, you heard Mr X’s new venture failed miserably?”, “He was always a no-calibre-guy, what’s the brouhaha about?” While critics will do what they are best at – criticise, you should focus on what is best for you – start again.

Failures are Teachers: Some say one should fail on purpose while others counsel you to take a leap of faith in pursuit of your dream, to fail but successfully. So go the whole hog and ditch mediocrity.

Disappointments can be turned into meaningful successes if you yearn to find learning in your failure. You must know that there isn’t anything personal and given that in life nothing is certain, one has to keep going and keep finding opportunities in the most adverse of situations.

Responsibility and Accountability at Workplace.

The First Day

On the first day of your job you are told by your reporting manager of your duties and responsibilities. You take the first few hours understanding your role in the organisation and whether or not it is in line with the job description you had read. Very soon would follow your line manager’s instructions to ensure that the assigned work is delivered when due, hinting that the organisation discourages delays. This, in no particular order, sums up the first few hours of your first day at a new job.

Expectation Setting

These setting up of expectations with the employees are met with two kinds of responses; either you are responsible or you are not. The first category would consist of individuals doing everything in their might to complete a certain task without any delay. These are the ones who usually end up taking the blame for their mistakes. The second category would have people who would try to blame someone else for the duties and responsibilities given to them. These are the people who wouldn’t take completion of a certain task as important, which also reflects a lot on their character. Instead of taking pride in their work and displaying a positive work ethic, they display lack of willingness to ascertain assigned duties. On the other hand, the responsible ones would walk the extra mile, take the blame if the task isn’t completed in time, have an unshakable work ethic and take complete responsibility of the tasks given.

The Difference Shows and Affects the Work

There seems to be a lot of difference in the character of the two individuals explained above. But surprisingly, the only marked difference in the two is ownership (or the lack of it). The ones taking personal pride in completion of tasks know that they are required to spearhead the implementation of a task and that they are required to take decisions at their discretion, while the rest are oblivious to accepting the liability for failed results. In addition, it is important to note that while responsibility can be given to you by your bosses, it is the accountability that has to be taken. Some of the very basic elements of being responsible at workplace are: arriving early, completing the assigned tasks in time, helping and getting along with your colleagues, displaying a positive mental attitude and a yearning to work, following the rules laid out by the organisation and discouraging any kind of gossip.

Responsibility and Accountability are Important Work Traits

Being responsible wouldn’t only ensure timely delivery of tasks and completion of work duties, but also make you more reliable and respected, help you increase your self-worth and self-esteem, ultimately leading you toward promotion. Remember that responsibility and accountability go hand in hand. Don’t show responsibility only for the tasks that are done nicely, but also for the ones that have not been executed properly. Take accountability for its failure, improve upon it by learning from past mistakes and strive to make it reach the finish line the second time.