By: Hannah Scott
Failures are inarguably dreadful and disappointing, regardless of the lessons we learn from them. Their occurrence during a certain task or project can drain you of your motivation to start from scratch and can cost you peaceful slumbers for a few days at least.
That said, even when there is no actual failure, the fear of failure itself can be quite damaging. In boardrooms and cubicles alike, this fear can paralyze decision-making, leading to a culture of risk aversion and stagnation.
Employees may hesitate to voice new ideas or take calculated risks for fear of repercussions, hindering the organization’s ability to adapt and thrive in a dynamic marketplace. Moreover, the fear of failure can erode morale and dampen enthusiasm, impeding individual and collective growth.
In this scenario, it is crucial to modify how failure is perceived. Instead of being dreaded about it, failure should be seen as an opportunity to learn and grow. And that’s the mantra the founder of Zeus Companies, Dr Steven Kaufman follows.
Dr. Kaufman doesn’t seem to concur with the notion that failure is just disappointment. He agrees it’s difficult to digest failures but believes that, in the end, there can be no better teachers than them.
“A failure can be your biggest and unaccredited degree, one that can make you master exactly the same thing you failed in,” says Steven.
It’s not a shot in the dark from Steven, nor it is a cliche that is often incessantly repeated by ‘motivational speakers’. He has a remarkable career behind him to support his point. His 25 years in real estate haven’t been a walk in the park, but rather a journey of ups and downs. Sharing one of his secrets to success, Steven says that he has probably learned more from failures than anyone or anything else, and most of his achievements stem from the lessons the failures taught him.
“You cannot buy experience, you can only experience it,” he shared. “I had a small business failure when I was 21 years old. Those were my early years in real estate and I had little industry knowledge. But that failure turned out to be my unaccredited MBA in real estate and taught me things I would never have known!
Steven’s words accentuate the significance of failures in one’s life. Every failure gives us a new perspective. It pushes us to take a step back and observe what went wrong, and where, and helps us to recognize our mistakes so that we do not repeat them in the future. They do not necessarily guarantee us success, but they can be the foundation stones of it if we just aptly decode them and learn our lessons.
Many people believe that real estate is like a game of buying and selling that is ‘easier’ to play. You invest in a property and then sell it in a surplus amount, and there you go – welcome to the rich club. However, Steven believes the reality could not be more different. The aforementioned observation is merely one tiny part of the job. The truth is, one might be earning a living by ‘buying-selling’, but one failed deal can dent your reputation once and for all and send you reeling under dire consequences.
In that case, says Steven, it is difficult to make a comeback. But if one knows the importance of failures and how to learn from them, they will bounce back as formidable players in the field. Many people quit the industry at this point and only rarely come forward.
“Failures are blessings in disguise and can be leading lights of your career if you learn to learn from them rather than mourning, making excuses and transferring blame on someone else,” says Steven.
Published by: Khy Talara
