Why Your Next Mistake Could Ultimately Be the Best Thing For Your Career
Learn how embracing missteps can build resilience, sharpen judgement, and accelerate your leadership growth
By Suzie Thoraval
“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.”
You know those moments when you try something without knowing if it will work — when the outcome is uncertain and the risk of getting it wrong feels real? I’ve learned to lean into that discomfort and move forward anyway.
I used to think mistakes might derail me. But over time, I’ve come to understand something deeply reassuring: if I make a mistake, it won’t just be survivable — it will be instructive. In fact, those moments often lead somewhere valuable. They create movement, insight, and resilience.
Let’s be real, mistakes sting. But I’ve come to know they’re one of the richest sources of growth we have.
In leadership, we’re wired to deliver with clarity, performance, and polish. So when mistakes happen, they can feel confronting — even shameful. And yet, the most adaptive leaders I know respond to something not going to plan by pausing, reflecting, recovering and turning setbacks into springboards.
This is part of adaptive stability — staying anchored while adapting, grounded yet forward-moving in the face of challenge.
Mistakes, when embraced with curiosity and care, build this kind of deep, sustainable strength.
Why it’s time to stop fearing mistakes
Leadership comes with pressure — pressure to get things right, to be consistent, to know what to do next. But fear of failure often leads to risk aversion and hesitation, which slowly erode innovation and impact. What we need instead is space to learn.
Mistakes tell us what didn’t work — and that’s valuable data. When we reframe them not as flaws but as feedback, we open the door to learning, innovation, and self-awareness.
In fact, research shows that when leaders reflect openly and constructively on their mistakes, it creates a powerful ripple effect:
Teams experience greater psychological safety and trust
Strategic decision-making strengthens over time
Resilience and emotional regulation become more robust
Innovation flourishes as a growth mindset takes root
That’s why some organisations are going even further — publishing annual “failure reports” that detail missteps and what was learned. Engineers Without Borders Canada pioneered this back in 2008, and their openness sparked a wave of similar initiatives across sectors. Mistakes, shared transparently, became catalysts for cultural transformation.
You are not your mistakes — but your response matters
One of the most powerful mindset shifts in leadership is to separate our mistakes from our identity. Your worth is not defined by what went wrong. It’s defined by what you do next. Do you reflect and recalibrate? Or do you spiral into shame, blame, or defensiveness?
I often think of kintsugi — the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold. It doesn’t hide the cracks. It honours them - they are part of the story. Leadership is the same. The lessons we learn from our failures often become the strongest parts of who we are.
Think of mistakes as stepping stones: one alone might feel unstable, but together they allow us to cross new terrain. Every misstep, if we learn from it, becomes part of our progress.
A leader’s turning point
Walt Disney’s early career was marked by bankruptcy and the loss of his first character to another company. These could have ended his dreams and discouraged him from persevering. Instead, they taught him financial discipline, intellectual property protection, and the importance of resilience. Without those early failures, Mickey Mouse — and everything that followed — might never have existed.
Disney didn’t succeed by avoiding failure — he succeeded by transforming it.
So how do we lead this way?
Start by modelling the mindset you want your team to adopt. A few simple shifts can make a big difference:
When something goes wrong, ask: “What’s the lesson here?”
Share your learnings with your team — not just the wins
Create space for others to experiment and reflect without fear
Celebrate effort, persistence and learning, not perfection
Let go of perfection — focus on progress and alignment
Anchor in values and direction — not just outcomes
This week’s reflection
As you reflect on things that didn't go to plan and guide others, consider these questions:
In what ways did that setback deepen your or their awareness?
What would you do differently next time—and why?
What did the experience reveal about what truly matters to you as a leader
Mistakes are not detours. They’re part of the path. They ask us to pause, adjust, and move forward towards greater confidence and performance— clearer, steadier, wiser.
What’s a mistake you’ve made recently that taught you something essential about your leadership?
