Lately I’ve been reflecting 0n the impact of mistakes on leadership, and how important humility becomes to learning from those mistakes. An article in The Washington Post this week describing the humility of Dr. James Peebles, who just won the Nobel Prize for physics, was a nice book end to the “great and unmatched wisdom” self-commentary we had heard earlier in the week.
As job titles go, it’s difficult to find one more formidable than Albert Einstein Professor of Science at Princeton University, so we can’t be surprised when a longtime occupant of that post finally wins the Nobel Prize. At 84, Phillip James Edwin Peebles — Jim, to friends and colleagues — shares this year’s prize for his work that helped to explain more than nine-tenths of everything that exists.
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Bradley Gilligan says
Personally, I think leadership is very valuable, especially in the business world. Great read. Everybody must grow through mistakes, which requires humility.
Adam B says
Great article! There is a lot to learn from ones mistakes, and humility is key to being able to recognize that process. As you mentioned leaders do not have all the answers, and having a willingness to accept the advice of others is an important skill. Everyone will make mistakes, and recognizing that can make a more effective leader.
Thomas Richardson says
I agree with everything you said in this article. These concepts are very simple and because of that, they are overlooked. I definitely agree that there is much more to be learned from failures than from successes and humility is an important aspect of accepting and learning from failure.