Get Over Yourself: Exploring the Role of Failure in Leadership Development

Open, honest communication about failure should be encouraged rather than stigmatized within military culture. Military leaders should recognize the inevitability of failure and view discussions about it as an opportunity to build junior leaders and reinforce their resiliency. Too often failure is glossed over when its lessons are what forge our ability to handle adversity and grow. Failure can be linked to each of the Marine Corps Leadership Traits: it is unavoidable yet nowhere to be found in our leadership doctrine. The words fail and failure only appear in Marine Corps Warfighting Publication 6-10 Leading Marines six times. Each instance is a description of an anecdotal outcome or a leadership failure . The publication does not discuss the potential for using failure as a leadership development opportunity. The word hardship appears only four times, but only in telling the reader that they will face hardship or that it is a leader s responsibility to prevent unnecessary hardship. The evaluation process does not address how leaders should deal with adversity, thereby ignoring this critical leadership development issue and missing a chance to help Marines realize their fullest potential.