What Taylor Swift, Mark Cuban, and Michael Jordan Can Teach Us About Embracing Failure

Weekly Business Insights from Top Ten Business Magazines | Week 329

Extractive summaries and key takeaways from the articles curated from TOP TEN BUSINESS MAGAZINES to promote informed business decision-making | Since September 2017 | Week 329 | December 29-January 4, 2023

Entrepreneurship Section | 2

What Taylor Swift, Mark Cuban, and Michael Jordan Can Teach Us About Embracing Failure

By Craig Kielburger | Entrepreneur Magazine | December 27, 2023

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Success is a word that resonates with us all. It’s the fulfillment of our goals and dreams, and, for entrepreneurs, it typically means the pay-off associated with creating a popular and profitable product or business. As a society, we celebrate those who reach the pinnacle of success, but we tend to overlook the bumpy road they’ve traveled to get there — one that’s often filled with failures, disappointments, and countless setbacks.

Becoming an entrepreneur usually means failure is less of a possibility so much as a virtual certainty. So, entrepreneurs must be resilient and learn to overcome rejections, obstacles and outright failure to realize their dreams. In Silicon Valley, for example, failing (often spectacularly) is not only accepted but is often celebrated as a rite of passage in the journey to success. There are dozens of entrepreneurs who had to hit rock bottom before they bounced back.

Of course, embracing failure as a necessary step toward success extends beyond business. Widely regarded as the greatest basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan emphasized the pivotal role of failure in his career. Despite a track record that featured five MVP awards, six NBA championships and numerous records and scoring titles, he cites failure as a necessary ingredient of his success.  “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed,” Jordan wrote.

Or consider Taylor Swift, who has become one of the most successful artists of her generation. She, too, has acknowledged that luck and failure were stepping stones towards her unparalleled successes. In fact, in her 2023 iHeartRadio Innovator Award acceptance speech, she encouraged young people not to overreact to failure, emphasizing its role in shaping her journey to success.  “You have to give yourself permission to fail. I try as hard as I can not to fail because it’s embarrassing, but I do give myself permission to, and you should, too,” said Swift.

The ability to face failure with resilience can be more valuable than an MBA, a long list of business contacts or seed funding. Failure is not a four-letter word; it’s a stepping stone to success. It’s time we shifted our thinking and embraced failure as a valuable teacher who equips us with the essential business and life skills that lead us to success.

3 key takeaways from the article

1. As a society, we celebrate those who reach the pinnacle of success, but we tend to overlook the bumpy road they’ve traveled to get there — one that’s often filled with failures, disappointments, and countless setbacks.
2. Becoming an entrepreneur usually means failure is less of a possibility so much as a virtual certainty. So, entrepreneurs must be resilient and learn to overcome rejections, obstacles and outright failure to realize their dreams.
3. Of course, embracing failure as a necessary step toward success extends beyond business. Widely regarded as the greatest basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan emphasized the pivotal role of failure in his career.   I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed,” Jordan wrote.  Or consider Taylor Swift, who has become one of the most successful artists of her generation. She, too, has acknowledged that luck and failure were stepping stones towards her unparalleled successes.  “You have to give yourself permission to fail.”

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Topics:  Entrepreneurship, Success, Failure, Resilient