Simon Sinek talks about the importance of being able to fall.
Thank goodness. Because I fall. I fall a lot.
I fell last week. It was a mistake, but I am responsible for it happening and for the upset that it caused. 
Even though I try my best to be a great leader by lifting others and shining a light on their path so they can succeed, sometimes I end up being an obstacle in their path. It doesn’t feel good to make a mistake or miss a mark or disappoint someone. That’s the first arrow.
But the second arrow is dwelling on that mistake instead of taking accountability, learning from it, dusting yourself off, and moving forward.  Like my mentor once said, “Take the hit, then, bounce.”
Did you know that Babe Ruth struck out more than 1300 times? History doesn’t dwell on that fact. History remembers his home runs. And Babe Ruth didn’t dwell on those strikeouts. In fact, his philosophy was that every strikeout brought him closer to his next home run.
The concept of being willing to fall reminds me of the universal celebration that erupts when a staff member drops a glass in a restaurant.
Crash…Hurray!
What happens at a restaurant when a server drops a glass and it shatters on the floor? 
Fellow restaurant staff cheer and clap! Why?  here’s my theory:
Most people are just trying their to do their job to the best of their ability
Everybody makes mistakes
A team is a village that takes care of its own
Take the hit, then bounceWhen we feel safe to FALL—to have the Freedom to Live and Learn without the fear of humiliation orloss of status, the world is a better place.
What would be different if next time you were to celebrate when you FALL?  The moment when something goes awry is a chance for the culture to be tested. Use it as an opportunity to demonstrate grace, invite experimentation, and celebrate the effort it takes to clean up and start again. And remember the Japanese art of Kintsugi, where we can become stronger in the broken places. 
Is it possible to be more beautiful in the broken places?
Recently, I sent a message to my friend who was struggling, in hopes of lifting her spirits.
My friend had been feeling down. Defeated. Convinced that she wasn’t capable or deserving of success. I knew better, of course. I’ve known her more than half my life. I’ve watched her rise from an aspiring writer to international best selling author. Countless reasons, I could offer, as to why she’s more than capable and perfectly deserving of success. With indignance, I wanted to shout at her, “You’re already successful! Do you know how many people would dream to live your life for even just one day?”
I had really good intentions that day. It was a thrill, in fact, to think that I could be of help to a hero. Here was little old regular me, being asked to Help…Fix…Repair…Heal…this amazing role model of mine, who happened to be struggling. Being able to nurture and support this person who has served as a model of excellence for me for decades. Here was my chance to make a difference!
And the way I chose to help this supersuccessful person to feel better? I denied her feelings. Not a good thing, turns out.
I countered every single negative thought she was having with a reason why she was wrong and “should feel great” or “ought to forgive” herself or “was being too hard” on herself.
Thinking I was helping, actually I was making it worse. I took away her right to suffer. In fact, I teetered on the cusp of shaming her for feeling down.
With all the best intentions, I missed the whole point. She was feeling brokenand needed to let the pieces fallon the floor in front of her.
Realizing that I was making things worse by only focusing on the sunny side and by denying her need to feel broken and fall apart, I suddenly remembered a concept I once heard about the importance of being able to “fall into” pain rather than simply denying it. This concept, I was now remembering, was about honoring and highlighting the broken parts. Drawing attention to the damage, even!
So, what is this radical-acceptance-like process of honoring and even highlighting our failures and broken parts?
It’s called Kintsugi, and it’s a beautiful way of turning damage into beauty.
The Japanese practice of “kintsugi” is the art of embracing damage. Check out this Kintsugi video:
“Now you shall transform to a new level, my friend. Think wabi-sabi and kintsugi: the art of embracing damage!”
Now remembering this concept of being stronger in the broken places, I stopped my barrage of “happy thoughts” and apologized mid-conversation to my friend. I acknowledged that I’d been trying to deny the fact that she felt broken. I was trying to pretend the cracks weren’t there. I told her that I’d suddenly remembered this Japanese art of Kintsugi, and that I would send her a video to illustrate the concept right away. We ended the conversation awkardly, and I seriously questioned whether I knew how to be a good friend.
Pushing past my disappointment in myself, I sent her the Kintsugi video, hoping that she was still open to my support, even after I’d botched and Pollyanna’d my way through our earlier conversation. After I sent the note and video link, I started to question myself.
“Who am I to tell this highly successful and internationally recognized thought leader how to live?”
“Why do I always appoint myself as the ambassador of all that is positive?”
“What if she resents my message and sees it as patronizing?”
There I was, spiraling to all my places in my head where my own brokenness lurks.
Worrying about how my friend might feel after I’d missed the point with her suffering, I was spinning in my own broken parts, thinking…
I’ve spent my whole life embracing the broken, the not quite, and the almost…
Saving birds with broken wings
Fixing toys with broken parts
Cheering for the underdog
Coaching those who don’t yet believe in themselves
Coaxing sunshine from clouds
Just as my negative self-talk was reaching a fervent pitch in my head, the phone rang.
There was my friend, laugh-crying through the phone line, telling me how she finally felt understood. The video just spoke to her. Captured her. She told me how she felt connected to this concept of embracing damage. How she IS kintsugi. How this concept of mending the broken pieces with gold and proudly displaying them was exactly what she’d needed. It was a great moment, and not just because my friend was feeling better or because I’d been able to help her. It was a great moment because she and I were creating Kintsugi in real time. We were piecing back together a set of broken shards of a conversation and making the resulting product even better than when we’d started.
I knew on that day that I would never look at broken pottery in the same way again.
Now, whenever either of us faces a rough patch in life, or when things fall apart altogether, a single word helps us both begin to put the pieces back together and to anticipate an even more beautiful outcome than the original situation could have intended.
Kintsugi.
Embracing the damage. More beautiful in the broken places.
To err is human; to forgive, divine. – Alexander Pope
Forgiveness is a gift that costs nothing.
There is tremendous power in forgiveness. We pardon mistakes or wrong choices of others as a means of growing, healing, learning and moving on. The power of forgiveness has long been documented. Think of the role it plays in self-esteem, interpersonal relations, philosophy, sports, child-rearing, education, and law. Forgiveness brings closure and resolution. Forgiveness frees us to make better choices next time.
So, where does forgiveness fit into training and leadership?
There is no greater learning opportunity than the chance to take a risk, or to make a decision that carries the risk of failing. When we provide a safe environment in which people can try, fail, and try again, we open up a world of learning opportunities.
What I learned from Scooby James Hendrich (1990-2008)
Scooby James Hendrich, 1990 - 2008
1. Make kindness your default position.
2. Never ignore someone who is hurting.
3. Be there, even if it means missing a little sleep. Just be there.
4. Give second chances, even when you know you’re right.
5. Don’t lose sight of what matters, even when others try to persuade you otherwise.
6. Forget about being first and focus on being, first.
7. Greet others when they arrive as if they are the stars of your life.
8. Allow yourself room for mistakes, and don’t over-apologize.
9. Get up every day and look for the best in others.
10. See life through a lens of love, and surely you will find good fortune.
When we feel safe to FALL—to have the Freedom to Live and Learn without the fear of humiliation or loss of status, the world is a better place.
Susan E. Hendrich 