Why Your Worst Leadership Moments Might Actually Be Your Best

If there’s one constant of our modern lives we can all relate to is those moments where everything that can go wrong does and often at the worst possible time. When leaders face such moments, the natural tendency is to shift to damage control, trying to put out as many fires as we can in the hopes of getting things ‘back to normal’ as soon as possible.

But what if I told you that these very moments, the ones where it feels like that firm ground is fast turning into sand, can help us unlock one of the most powerful leadership tools we’ll need in this fast-evolving digital world?

In this edition of my Leadership Espresso Shot series, I share a personal story of the worst date night my wife and I had – a night that started with a romantic dinner at our favourite restaurant, but which ended up with us stranded on a highway on-ramp in a state of confusion, worry, and concern.

Now I get what you’re thinking right now – what does my worst date night have to do with leadership?

Well, the answer is in what happened to us later that night, something that illustrates a critical psychology finding that most leaders don’t realize they can harness to completely transform how their team experiences setbacks, failure, and uncertainty.

This is a practical approach any leader can implement right now to change how you respond to the next crisis, and drive your team’s efforts and momentum forward.