"Failure" is a Real Word and Exists

It is time that people understand that there is a thing called “Failure”. When a company fails, the CEO, senior leadership, and the Boards need to be held responsible by shareholders and the market for their failed leadership. The penalty needs to be quick and severe.

We have taught each other that “failure” doesn’t exist anymore. From kindergarten to the Board Room, we coddle and give group hugs to people who have been “success challenged”. This is ridiculous and has marginalized the talent pool. It is a fact that there is a consequence to failure and we need to bring this lesson back. We are experiencing the outcome of this “no such thing as a failure” philosophy today and will be for the next several years.

But there is some work to do especially in the business sector. Executive employment contracts need to stop looking like the NFL quarterback contracts (5-10 year terms, massive buy-outs if they become free agents before end of term no matter the reason for leaving) and start looking like a normal employment contract (if you do your job, you stay – if you don’t, you are fired). If the CEO fails at his job by causing one of the largest company in the world to seek bankruptcy or government bailout, shareholders should be allowed to show him the door NOW without worrying about doling out additional compensation, contract buy-outs, and assorted bonuses - null and void.

We need to fix this failed philosophy – starting with the consumer. We, as a whole, are at fault for not being aware, learned, and conscious of what is going on in the financial markets. We are all affected financially by no-talents, failed leadership, unethical products, and awful employment contracts. This current financial debacle is everyone’s failure – from top to bottom – and we need to remember this so we don’t allow it to happen again. Let's get comfortable with "failure" because we are going to see a lot more of it unless we change the way we do things.