Failing and Winning in an Upward Fashion.

The other day, I had a fantastic chat with one of my employees. It was about failing and winning in an upward fashion.

It was all about failing and taking chances.

Very recently, a management position has opened up in my company. A young girl jokingly told me she should apply for it. I looked at her and told her “absolutely”.

Looking at me crazily, she said: “I was kidding…”

I sat her down and told her a story that started with this.

Michael Jordan is on the record of saying, “you’ll miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”

So I asked her what she has to lose from applying for this position that is a little larger than her skill and educational set at the moment?

She was afraid whoever interviewed her would laugh in her face if she even booked a full interview.

So I went back to the original question. What do you have to lose?

She didn’t have a true answer.

So I stopped for a moment and slowly rolled out, you have everything to gain. For a moment she didn’t understand what she would gain from applying for a position way above her head.

I said, ” you may not get this job nor interview, but you will gain valuable skills to teach you to be better in the business world.”

You will learn new and relatable interview questions. I stopped there and asked her one the basics.

“What are your weaknesses?” I was given a cliche answer of not being confident in her decisions.

So I kept going…

“Give me an example of that and how you overcame it.”

She told me these questions were too hard and tried to give up. I kept pushing.

This is the reason you should apply for this position!

Because once you go through these series of questions with someone and you freeze on the spot, you will go home reflect these questions and think of a better way to answer them.

Your next interview will be easier. BOOM!

Strength through adversity.

I had to change her perspective. It wasn’t that she knew she may not get the position. It was the process in the (before and after). It was being scared of failing.

I gave her another reminder.

You will gain so much by taking the chance that no one else would.

AND! You never know what could happen.

Sidenote: She is 19 and wanted to apply for a General Manager position. 

My life as a reference:

I gave her a small story of my life of when I got out of the Navy and was homeless. I applied to over 300 jobs and only booked 3 interviews. 

The job I did get, was something I did not even deserve. I had no experience in that field. I applied for the highest position for that location and the lowest position. 

They didn’t offer me the any of the positions I applied for, but they gave me a step-down from the highest and gave me the assistant manager. 

But… they saw a chance with me. Forever grateful, I worked my butt off to show them I was worth it. I was promoted 5 months later. 

I would have never been there if I didn’t take a chance with myself. I knew my worth and did not want to be defined by past experiences. Put me in this position and I will grow and learn until I am the best.

In a way, I failed that interview. I didn’t get the position I wanted. On the other hand, I was given a chance to better myself.

Take chances, fail at them, learn from them, and come back and crush it.

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Currently Reading: PROFIT FIRST BY Mike Michalowicz. Read it here.