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Go ahead and take more risks -- even if the worst happens, you'll probably end up fine.
Everyone knows you need to take risks in order to be creative, set yourself apart, and accomplish truly impressive things. Yet many of us still struggle to try things we might fail at. What are we so afraid of?
Public
humiliation isn't nice, but if you dig down into people's motivations,
their biggest fear is often getting fired. What if I lose the means to
support myself and my family? Won't a black mark like that in my work
history hold me back in the future? Who wants to hire someone who got
canned from their last gig?
Turns out the answer to that last one is plenty of people. When the authors of a new book titled The CEO Next Door
tracked more than 2,600 executives over a ten-year period they
discovered something startling -- of those that got fired, an incredible
91 percent ended up finding a new position that was as good or better
than their last.
Getting fired can actually be good for your career.
The
good news from co-authors Elena Lytkina Botelho, BJ Wright, and Kim
Rosenkoetter Powell doesn't stop there. Not only do nearly all fired
executives continue their climb up the ladder, but an incredibly 78
percent eventually make it to CEO, they report in a recent HBR blogs write-up of their findings.
The
authors even found evidence that getting fired can make you a stronger
professional going forward. When the researchers had objective raters
evaluate the job interview performance of executives, they discovered
that those who had some sort of serious screw-up like being fired in
their career histories were actually slightly more likely to be
recommended for the job.
Of course, circumstances matter. If you
were fired for some sort of gross negligence or heinous ethical lapse,
that's clearly going to be a bigger stain on your record that simply
leading an initiative that didn't quite succeed. But in cases where
getting fired stemmed from a mismatch of skills and requirements at a
given company or simple lack of results, the prognosis looks downright
sunny.
Why some companies prefer to hire failures
In fact,
some companies actively look for those who have tanked in the past, as
it indicates boldness and resilience. HomeAway co-founder Brian Sharples
explained to Inc.com that he prefers to hire people who have been through epic fails
and can talk about them intelligently. And when a recent WSJ piece
revealed Netflix is quick to fire struggling team members, the company's
response was to stress being let go was no shame and didn't hold
ex-employees back in their subsequent careers.
"Being part of
Netflix is like being part of an Olympic team. Getting cut, when it
happens, is very disappointing but there is no shame at all. Our former
employees get a generous severance and they generally get snapped up by
another company," it commented.
Both
Netflix's competitors and companies like HomeAway realize that not
failing is often the result of not trying. Reaching and coming up short
demonstrates you're not afraid to dream big. All of which adds up to a
simple lesson: you really shouldn't let your fear of getting fired keep
you from taking risks. Playing it safe will harm you more in the long
run than daring and failing.
The bottom line is getting fired
isn't the end of the world, especially if you use it as an occasion for
reflection, self-improvement, and renewed investment in your career. How
do you do that exactly? Check out the complete HBR post for useful concrete advice.
