Hind sight is 20:20, and yet it is not very easy to notice our own mistakes, let alone talk about them. It takes tremendous courage to accept your mistake and all the more to acknowledge in public. I recently came across an article in the Knowledge@Wharton news letter “Pitney Bowes' Michael Critelli: Not Your 'Celebrity CEO'”. I did not know much about Pitney Bowes beyond the common knowledge of their mail sorting business. Then I read Good to Great by Jim Collins. I have been very impressed with the company ever since and then this recent article just built on my respect for the leadership at Pitney.
You must read the K&W article for the rest of my essay to make much sense…
While sipping coffee I ruminated over the article and wondered would I have hired Michael after he had been passed for a partner at two firms? And then again would I feel confident in appointing him the chief executive? In all honesty probably not! Not to belittle his potential and his accomplishments but I have always believed success begets success. True we all run into little failures all the time but I am not so sure his were little by any stretch of imagination?
I thought further and develop a hypothesis. It is only worthwhile and/or easy to talk about mistakes until one gets beyond a certain accomplishment level! It is easy for the successful to talk about their mistakes then for those who have failed. It is not only because they learnt from the mistakes and capitalized on them but also because in light of their success their mistakes seem minuscule. On the flip side it could very well be true that the failed individual/s were not lucky enough to have found another opportunity to learn and capitalize on their mistakes? Who is to judge? For me I will only talk when asked.
