"Managing through Failure”: More than an Oxymoron?

Abstract

In a “man-bites-dog” inversion of principles more likely to be employed in leadership primers (i.e., that failure is somehow not an option), this paper suggests managers should embrace the possibility that they as well as their subordinates inevitably will at least occasionally fail. Their acceptance suggests managers should learn more about certain historical perspectives and principles from which the ongoing need to lead subordinates through inescapable failure could be addressed more effectively. Below, ten ironic observations and three overarching historically grounded principles are identified, justified and explicated. Each prescriptive point is designed and fit-together in ways intended to assist modern managers in their efforts to lead subordinates and themselves though failure.