Hi, Joseph - interesting post.

I liked your list of things not to say as a leader.   At one time or another, I think I have heard all of these from someone else and even need to own up that I may have said something like some of them myself.

They are all good statements (and attitudes) to avoid, but the last one "Failure is unacceptable" is uniquely important.   We seem to have develped a cultural obsession around this idea that you cannot fail.  In the film "Apollo 13", among others, the line "Failure is not an option." is prominent ... and totally untrue.

Failure is not only an option, but a reality for most of us at least some of the time.   The idea that we can avoid life's realities by uttering this mantra religiously only creates both an illusion that we can avoid failure, but also sets us up to fall much harder than if we realistically plan, prepare, and execute.

Failure has been much in my professional life and is the source of most of my learning and any wisdom I have gathered along the way.  Your comments about learning from our mistakes as we move forward is excellent.

John