My voice teacher has a monthly performance group for her adult students. This month I was singing a French song that I didn’t know well enough as it turned out, and I had trouble with both the words and the notes. As a (recovering) perfectionist, I mentally kicked myself both during and after my mangled performance. At the end of the session, my teacher asked me if I wanted to try again, and I did, this time with the music in front of me. I felt the power of the song once again.
You are not always going to get it right as a leader. In fact, when you are learning and growing and trying out some new things, failure at some of them is inevitable. Recovery and regrouping is as much a part of leadership as moving forward boldly. This is true about personal leadership as well as church programs and ministries. I was struck by Rick Warren’s words in The Purpose Driven Church that they had tried more things that failed than had succeeded at Saddleback. When we or a ministry fails, how can we take some time to recover (short or long depending on the wounds), and then get back on track?