Life Coach as Leader: Do Leaders Make Mistakes?

Early in the morning on April 17, 1961, 1400 Cuban exiles landed at the Bay of Pigs, Cuba and attempted to overthrow Fidel Castro.  The U.S.-trained force was both too large (to be covert) and too small (too win an engagement).  After three days of unsuccessful fighting, the insurgents fled to the swamps, trying to connect with the waiting U.S. ships.  Nearly all were captured and imprisoned.

In other words, it was a disaster.   The press and U.S. citizens alike were outraged.  A New York Times columnist commented that the invasion made the U.S. look like “fools to our friends, rascals to our enemies, and incompetents to the rest.”

The outcry was completely silenced, though, when President John F. Kennedy publically took full responsibility for the fiasco.

It took a lot of courage to stand there, face the entire world and say, “the buck stops here.”  Can you imagine how JFK must have felt, then, when his popularity rating went up instead of down?

This isn’t a blog about politics, so no matter what your opinions are about JFK or his time in office, stay tuned.  What we’re talking about today is leadership.

If you’ve been following this series of blogs, you know that leadership skills are absolutely essential for a life coach, heart-based entrepreneur, or healer.   The Bay of Pigs situation is a great of example of what to do when you lead . . .  and things go wrong.

JFK took full responsibility for what happened.  It had to be so tempting to shift at least some of the blame away from himself.  The operation had actually been conceived during the Eisenhower administration, and a lot of hands and brains had gone into the final plan.  Kennedy himself had been in office for less than one hundred days.  But he took full responsibility, and most people loved him for it.  It was a relief – that confirmation that he was at the helm, really steering this giant, complex country.  Sure, he’d made a mistake, but he was right there to handle the fall out from it.  What can you learn from Kennedy’s approach?

• Make mistakes.  Do your research, make your best decision and go for it.  The worst thing you can do is refuse to take action because you’re afraid to make a mistake.
• If your decision appears to be a mistake, take the time to find out for sure.  Remember when we were talking about the Law of Attraction?  There’s almost always an initial success, and then a hesitation before any other good comes.  Get concrete evidence before you stamp “Failed Effort” across it.
• Assess your mistake – what have you learned?  Don’t allow negatively to leach your energy by labeling the decision (or yourself) as “stupid,” “foolhardy,” or “ignorant.”  A mistake is only ignorant if you refuse to learn from it . . . or if you allow it to redefine yourself as something less than.
• After the mistake, you are now a more valuable asset to your dream, and a more powerful leader.  Why?  Because you know more than you did before the mistake.  You are a more seasoned life coach, healer or heart-based entrepreneur for having gone through this fire.  So regroup, gather more information, and take your game up to the next level!

You probably aren’t running a country (although if you are, and you’re reading my blog – thanks!  I’ll take it as a compliment) but if you put yourself in the position of leader, be prepared to handle mistakes.  As a matter of fact, you must make mistakes.

Are you a life coach, healer or other heart-based entrepreneur who wants to become a more effective leader?  Find your way to a joyful, beautiful adventure packed with major success and fun with the EnergyRICH® Bootcamp.