By Allie Moore, on July 31, 2012

Grace, n. I. Pleasing quality, gracefulness.
1. a. The quality of producing favourable impressions; attractiveness, charm
b.  Seemliness, becomingness, favourable or creditable aspect. 

Let me tell you about failure. This week I was asked to host the ICN user training webinar. An hour-long, these weekly sessions are conducted on an internet-based audio, video and web conferencing system. I agreed to lead the training as it was something my supervisor and I talked about before and I was, ahem, gently nudged by a professor to give it a try. I wrote an agenda for the webinar and practiced a bit beforehand. However, as the title of this post suggests, it did not go well.

Yes, failure may be caused by a lack of preparation, but often it is just a matter of chance, bad-luck or poor fate. Ultimately, something out of your control. While the cause of your failure may be out of your hands, here are two suggestions for improving the situation.
1. Own up to it: I was the first to admit my webinar wasn’t a success. By acknowledging the white elephant in the room, you reduce the awkwardness and show others you are not blind to your mistakes. I find others appreciate this and are more willing to let it go.
2. Avoid martyrdom: Yes, go ahead and admit your failure, but there isn’t any reason to make it a drawn-out “woe-is-me” moment. You know that annoying person who continually seeks approval and/or needs to be reassured at every turn? Don’t be that person.

I can pretty much guarantee no one likes to fail. We plan, prepare, and practice to give ourselves the best chance of success. Or we simply choose to avoid things that may cause us to fail. In spite of this, regardless of the amount of practice and effort we give, sometimes our best-laid plans just don’t work. Things can’t, and won’t, always go the way you want. When this happens, and you know it has before and undoubtedly will again, how you handle failure says a great deal about you.