Bouncing back from failure as a senior executive
- Sylvain Langellier
- Apr 15
- 4 min read
Bouncing back from professional failure as a senior executive
According to an Ispos study(1), 71% of French people believe that we should take risks in our professional lives, even if it means flirting with failure. Another 83% think that people who fail are often badly perceived by society. Whether they are artists, entrepreneurs or sportsmen and women, stories of professional failure are less and less taboo. And that's a good thing, because as our careers get longer and longer, we're all going to experience them to a greater or lesser degree.
How do you bounce back from a failure as an executive? Follow our advice to turn disappointment into an opportunity for success.
1- Analyse the reasons of failure
There's no point in lying to you, it's not the most comfortable stage of the process, but reviewing all the factors that led to this unfavourable outcome will help you to understand them better. Whatever form this professional disappointment takes - breach of a trial period, redundancy, wrong strategic direction, lack of communication - you'll need to assess the reasons so that you can move forward calmly.
In carrying out this exercise, the aim is to estimate your share of responsibility while also looking at how the environment has been unfavourable to you. If you were to go through this situation again today, what would you do differently? For example, when you took on a new role through internal mobility, how did the company train you? It's important to take time to highlight the mistakes you should never make again, and to be able to spot the risk situations.
Putting all the reasons that led to this outcome into perspective also means learning to deal with them in order to change the way we look at the event. The Americans have understood this; they don't judge ‘failure’ as harshly as the French do, and it's even seen as beneficial on the other side of the Atlantic, because that's how we learn valuable lessons about how to improve.
2- Mourning your professional experience
During this ordeal, we need to show resilience. This is our ability to adapt when life throws obstacles in our way that generate stress.
When people leave a job, they lose much more: their social status, the benefits associated with it and the recognition of their peers. Self-esteem is damaged and skills may be called into question.
The manager is also leaving behind a daily routine, habits and colleagues. As with mourning, you have to accept that the situation you have experienced will not return.
3- Examining your motivations for bouncing back from failure when you're a senior manager
Before embarking on a new chapter, we need to put some sense back into our professional outlook. What makes you happy when you walk into the office in the morning? What are you particularly proud to tell your friends and family when you talk about your job?
In his book "Start with why", Simon Sinek, a specialist in management and marketing, develops the importance of the "why". He suggests that we ask ourselves a single question as individuals or as a company: Why? leading us to question our deepest motivations.
Other questions can rekindle desire:
What are the most important values in my professional life?
What are my main sources of motivation?
What am I most proud of since the start of my career?
When your self-confidence has been shattered by the sudden departure from a job, getting support from a career transition coach is a solution worth considering.
This is what the Networking Premium Group offers with its outplacement service for managers: the Networking Business Package.
Together, we analyse the executive's career path, the skills he has used to date, his successes and the more difficult stages along the way. The sharp eye of an expert in career change enables new objectives to be set and confidence to be regained after failure. New opportunities present themselves thanks to our network of contacts.
4- Surround yourself well to overcome the loss of your job
When you suffer a professional setback, you might prefer to keep a low profile for a while. Yet talking to experts can help you change your point of view and challenge your mindset.
Your entourage may not be the best advisers at this difficult time, although their support will be invaluable in expressing your doubts and fears. Those closest to you are probably not specialists in your sector of activity. They will want to avoid further disappointment by directing you towards solutions that they consider ‘better’ according to their criteria.
It's best to talk to peers, members of your network or career transition consultants to get a real analysis of what you want and what the market needs.
Like this article? You may also like: How to choose an executive outplacement firm ?
5- Inspiration for a fresh start
Slots have opened up in your diary. Give yourself this time to be inspired and to sketch out new possibilities.
You can go to networking events to meet colleagues who have reinvented themselves. Reconnect with former colleagues you trust. Meet people who are not afraid of a challenge and who cultivate an optimistic mindset. Sign up for conferences and symposiums, and continue to broaden your knowledge of the subjects you love or that have long sparked your curiosity.
As a CEO, member of Comex or Codir, making decisions on a daily basis is part of your DNA. After a bad experience, it's normal to want to move on quickly. However, it's important not to rush into things and to regain faith in your ability to bounce back after a setback when you're a senior manager.
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