What if, just for a moment, you could set aside all of your fears and doubts? Imagine a world where the shackles of failure were non-existent, where the risk of falling short held no power over your decisions. This tantalizing concept has fueled the dreams of visionaries, innovators, and dreamers for generations. “What would you do if you knew you could not fail?” It’s a question that invites us to explore the boundless potential of our aspirations and desires.
I recently had the opportunity to learn from Ryan Leak, author, speaker, executive coach, and podcaster. He’s known for two video documentaries: The Surprise Wedding & Chasing Failure. The Surprise Wedding is the story of Ryan’s risk to surprise his girlfriend of five years with a proposal and wedding – on the same day! Ryan shares how two years of planning never seemed to come together exactly as he wanted, but yet ended perfectly the way it was supposed to be. They were married and surrounded by family and friends in a beautiful ceremony with all the trimmings.
Next, in Chasing Failure, Ryan embarked on a journey to ask the question, what would he do if he knew he could not fail? His philosophy was this – how will I know what I can or cannot do unless I try? If I don’t try, it’s just my opinion. So he set out on a journey that led him to a walk-on tryout with the Phoenix Suns. He prepared through practice, nutrition, and weight lifting – everything he thought he would need to be successful. While he failed and didn’t make the team, he experienced more than he thought possible, met an amazing coach, and now has a career as an executive coach for several NBA organizations. There truly is more than one way to be in the NBA. That failure opened doors to other possibilities!
Learning from Ryan led me to evaluate my life for risk and failure scenarios.
I’ve written before about my color guard and drum corps experiences. Trying out for the Santa Clara Vanguard drum and bugle corps at 18 years old was definitely a “you won’t know unless you try” experience. It was a lifelong dream come true. I loved my three years touring the country, performing and competing with the organization. I consider the people I met there some of my closest friends, and I take the opportunity to reconnect and participate in alumni events as often as I can. In that experience, I left home, left the comfortable, and put myself out into the world to chase a dream. Most of us there were in the same boat, trying to find ourselves and figure it all out, wanting so desperately to be part of something amazing. I learned so much about myself and my capabilities in the process. But I never had a doubt I could be successful.
After my drum corps years, I graduated college and took jobs that challenged me and provided opportunities for professional growth. I approached those situations with confidence and took on every challenge with a vision of success. I was sure I would become CEO someday. Using the philosophy “if it doesn’t work out I’ll go find something else” seemed easy. I never doubted myself – until I lost my job due to a downsizing.
Two months after telling over 100 employees they would be losing their jobs due to organizational slowdowns, I found myself on the other side of the table hearing those same words. I had worked hard, moved up through organizational ranks, and given more than just a little of myself to the organization over eight years. And one day it was gone with no closure. Just a formality that life had changed, and not by my choice. I thought all of that hard work was for nothing and that no one valued it – or me. I considered myself a failure for the first time in my life.
I had a family to think about and bills to pay. Failure just didn’t seem like an option. Other people were depending on me. I took time with my family to recalibrate before jumping into my next adventure. When I began the job search, it was harder than I thought! I had more to consider, was pickier about what I was willing to consider, looked for low-risk options, and wasn’t as confident as before. I began to overthink all of the options and spent time wondering and worrying. What if it’s not the right opportunity? What if it doesn’t work out? I was paralyzed and making decisions out of desperation rather than being future-focused.
Ultimately, a great opportunity presented itself, something I would never have considered had I still been in my old job. I led continuous improvement efforts for an engineering team in an industry sector I knew nothing about. I coached leaders, instructed classes, and participated in cross-functional process discussions. I learned data analysis from some amazing statisticians. I traveled to other facilities across the country to help with continuous improvement projects, and I worked with some amazing consultants. More importantly, I regained my confidence and perspective and started dreaming for the future again. I no longer wanted to be the CEO. I wanted to help others reach their potential. My mission became making sure organizations were successful and growing so no leader would have to sit across the table and tell someone they were losing their job because business is slow. But then came 9-11, and business did slow. My heart sank. This time I didn’t wait for change to happen without my consent.
That job restored my confidence and provided the experience I needed to succeed in my current role, leading an educational team focused on coaching leaders and training company employees. It was a prime example of what would I do if I could not fail. I jumped from manufacturing to education, sure I would succeed. It has been 21 years since I started on the education journey, and my dedication has never wavered. My passion for business growth is still deeply rooted in that first layoff experience. I’m grateful every day for the opportunity to make a positive difference in my community, knowing my team impacts hundreds of organizations and thousands of employees each year.
I believe everything happens for a reason, even if we don’t always understand it at the time. Our successes and failures provide the experiences and skill sets to drive us forward. It’s how we view them and use them that make a difference. That job I had for eight years and then lost provided the opportunity to gain leadership skills, lead projects, and design manufacturing processes for efficiency and productivity. The job I stumbled into leading continuous improvement efforts with engineers taught me about product design, quality, using data, coaching, and training. My current job uses a combination of all of these skills!
Ryan writes in his book, Chasing Failure, that dreaming is free, but living out that dream has a price tag. I often think that price might be easy to calculate – it’s a direct cost or an allocation of our time. But sometimes it might be harder to envision. It might just be that lifetime of experience we’ve invested in. The question becomes how do we use it to reach the next dream?
John Maxwell says, “You have to give up to go up”. It’s the price we have to pay for following our dreams. What price tag are you willing to pay? What risk are you willing to take? I’m at the point in my career where it’s time to consider my next step, and it’s scary! I’m letting fear creep back in. My dream hasn’t changed: to have a positive impact on the world around me, helping businesses grow and succeed to create amazing jobs and opportunities for their employees. But I’m dreaming bigger than just my community now. It’s time to stop letting fear hold me back.
I challenge us all to dare to dream, envision, and plan without limits, for it is in these audacious moments that we uncover the essence of our true potential.
“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” ~ Winston Churchill.
Hallway Consulting Group 
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