Have you ever been ready to throw your iPhone, iPad, computer or some other form of technology against the wall and scream?
That was me on this particular Friday morning. I am sitting at my desk preparing to join my John Maxwell Team friend Eric Reid on his Friday Facebook Live he graciously invited me to participate in.
I am excited and ready to go so I join in while listening on my computer. He sees me there, but I have to get connected via my iPhone or iPad . . . . that is where the problems begin.
I log onto Facebook and see his video, but no matter how many times I touch the screen it won’t play. Confession here, I am not a technology whiz. After about five minutes my blood pressure is rising and then I figure I will download the app.
At this point my friend knows I am struggling and he is demonstrating his phenomenal speaking skills as he speaks on something he totally did not anticipate. As I continue to struggle, I have messaged him with the confession that I am cursing my devices.
We are now about fifteen minutes in and I am yelling and screaming either outloud or in my head and I finally get on . . . . but cannot access the camera . . . whatever that means!
Finally, I message him and tell him I give up because we are now too far in for me to bring much value. He encourages me through the broadcast and asks others to do the same. Now that the emotion is gone I ask myself: what did this teach me about leadership?
Prepare, Prepare, Prepare
I should have done the test run beforehand . . . I know common sense, but apparently not for this guy. When we try something new especially involving new technology of some sort, give it a low risk “test drive” first.
Don’t be Attached
I could have been much worse off than I was especially if I allowed my self-worth to be attached to the result that morning. I was frustrated, embarrassed, and felt my lack of preparation let my friend down. The reality is that my self-worth should not be based on the results of a Facebook Live.
Learn.
Why am I writing this now, so I can reflect and learn and possibly help you when you try something new as you lead. Mistakes happen, but in order to learn we need to pause, reflect, and learn from them.
Failure occurs to us all and when we are trying something new the probability of some type of failure is higher. What about you? Do you get attached to what you are trying so much that if you fail you will be crushed? Do you take time to learn from the mistake? Just like I have to remind myself often, because we fail does not mean we are failures. Go out today, try something new personally or professionally and if you fail on some level, learn and re-enter. Lead well.
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