Why Audiences Value Real Mistakes

A developer’s coding error once caused a 4-hour outage for 10M users. Instead of firing them, the CTO shared the post-mortem company-wide. Next quarter, that dev built a tool preventing 92% of similar bugs—saving $500K. Mistakes Aren’t Failures. They’re Mentors. – 74% of professionals hide errors, escalating $15K issues into $150K crises (Salesforce). – Teams that normalize mistakes fix problems 5x faster (Gallup). – Employees who “fail forward” report 68% higher job satisfaction (MIT). 𝗧𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀 → Host “blameless post-mortems” • Google’s template: “What happened? Why? How do we ensure it never recurs?” • Reward transparency: Offer a “Best Lesson” award monthly. → Gamify growth • Track “Lessons Learned” like sales targets. Example: “50 bugs caught = team lunch.” • Amazon managers share “Failure CVs” to destigmatize missteps. → Measure progress, not perfection • Count resolved errors, not error counts. • Benchmark quarterly: “How much faster did we recover from setbacks?” 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗥𝗢𝗜 • Teams that share mistakes innovate 42% faster (Harvard). • 89% of employees stay loyal to leaders who support risk-taking (Deloitte). • Companies with “learning cultures” see 31% higher margins (McKinsey). The only true mistake? Wasting the lesson. #GrowthMindset #Leadership #Resilience

My client felt conflicted about sharing a really painful mistake. She was worried she'd look like an amateur. But part of her believed it might help someone else. She shared it anyway. And it became her 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥-𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳. The truth is, we often learn more from mistakes than successes — yet most people are afraid to talk about them. Here’s the secret: the difference between looking exposed and looking experienced lies in how you frame the failure. How to do this well: 1/ Frame failure as growth Don’t just explain what went wrong — highlight what you learned. "Our Q1 campaign missed targets by 30%. We prioritised reach over resonance. Now we test messaging with focus groups first, and our latest campaign exceeded benchmarks by 18%." 2/ Show your evolution Make the lesson visible with clear before-and-after proof. "We lost a major client last year. Our onboarding process missed the mark. Since introducing weekly alignment checks, retention has increased by 37%. Here’s how we run them..." 3/ Position failure as expertise Good decisions can still lead to poor outcomes. That doesn’t make you less skilled; it makes you more insightful. ❌ "My pricing strategy flopped." ✅ "I tested a premium-first model based on industry benchmarks. The key insight was that our audience valued accessibility over exclusivity. It's changed our entire approach." 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨: Name the mistake clearly Share your reasoning at the time Highlight the insight you gained Show measurable improvement Great failure posts aren’t stream-of-consciousness confessions. They’re growth lessons that help others avoid the same pitfalls. What professional setback ultimately helped you? Feel free to share (even if you’re still in the middle of it). ________ Hi, I'm Lola I help learning and development consultants build their thought leadership on LinkedIn and beyond.

The book you're afraid to write → is the one your audience needs most. That chapter on your biggest failure? It's someone else's breakthrough. I've watched brilliant executives delete their most powerful stories. The messy ones. The human ones. The real ones. Your expertise becomes most valuable when it's: → Human, not polished → Honest, not perfect → Vulnerable, not sanitized Here's what happens when experts hide behind perfection: 1️⃣ Trust Barriers ↳ Flawless experts are admired but not trusted ↳ Real stories create "I see me" moments ↳ Clients invest in humanity, not just capability 2️⃣ The Authority Paradox ↳ Your mistakes build more credibility ↳ Sharing struggles positions you as guide, not guru ↳ Authentic expertise outsells perfection 3️⃣ Impact Limitations ↳ Your battle scars are permission slips ↳ That messy framework? It saves others years ↳ Your raw story changes someone's life Don't hide your human journey ⬇️ Vulnerability connects. Perfect intimidates. Start publishing. Stop polishing. Be really YOU.

🎯 The Quiet Power of Leaders Who Say "I Was Wrong" 🎯 The most powerful moment in leadership isn't when everything goes right. It's when things go wrong. It's not about grand gestures or rehearsed humility. It's about three simple words: "I made mistakes." ---Why does this matter--- 1.) It Creates Fearless Teams 🛡️ ↳A humble leader 🗣: "I overlooked key risks in our strategy, and that's on me. Let's talk openly about what each of you saw that I missed." ↳ Result: Research shows psychological safety is the #1 predictor of high-performing teams. 2.) It Turns Failures into Fuel 🚀 ↳A humble leader 🗣: "Our product launch fell short because of my decisions. Here's what I learned, and here's how we'll grow from this." ↳ Truth: Teams that openly discuss mistakes are significantly more likely to innovate and improve. 3.) It Builds Real Trust 🤝 ↳A humble leader 🗣: "I rushed this decision despite your concerns. You were right. Let's reset and plan this together." ↳ Impact: Teams with leaders who focus on openness and growth show up to 15% higher engagement. (Gallup) Here's what's fascinating: When leaders admit mistakes first, it creates a ripple effect. People stop hiding errors. Innovation flourishes. Trust multiplies. Powerful leadership moments often come from being honest about your imperfections. The next time you mess up, remember: Your team isn't looking for perfection. They're looking for authenticity.  

Case studies are great, but I often learn more from the dumpster fires. I don't think I'm alone. Last week's CMO Coffee Talk featured a variety of rebrand experience shares, and the vast majority of the most valuable lessons and takeaways came from mistakes. Even when you see, read or hear case studies presented, some of the most common questions are: ✔️ What would you do differently next time? ✔️ What do you wish you had known before starting the project or process? ✔️ What went wrong and what did you learn from that, and/or how did you pivot because of it? These all focus on lessons burn of failures. James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, says as much: "Stories of failure resonate more than stories of success. Few people reach the top, but everyone has failed—including those who eventually succeed. If you're teaching people how to succeed in a given field (or talking about your own success), start with how you failed." Most companies have case studies prominently featured on their Web sites and sales materials. What if you also included customer failures? We tried this once in a webinar series and it worked spectacularly. It exclusively targeted stalled opportunities - prospects who for some reason or another just weren't moving forward. We called the series "Customers Unplugged" or something like that. And in a live Q&A format we asked HARD questions. Things like: 💣 What do you regret about buying this product? 💣 What do you need new customers to know before they commit? 💣 What were some of the reasons you almost didn't buy? The exec team was terrified when we first proposed this. And yet, after each one we did, at least 3-4 large deals suddenly got unstuck. The world is not full of purely success stories. No prospect is going to believe your case studies represent 100 percent of your customer base. Be vulnerable to earn loyalty. Let more people hear your dumpster fires! I guarantee it will attract far more than it will repel.

After 8 failed attempts at trying to shoot a promo video I’ve come to realize something crucially important in the time we live in... 👀 We’re all imperfectly perfect just the way we are. And it’s the same concept when it comes to Marketing. Ever wondered why TikTok blew up? It’s because it was filled with raw video content. The more organic, the better. 👌 Personally, whenever I see perfection or overproduced content, the first thing I think of is, I’m about to get pitched. 😏 Like it’s a commercial. And these days, consumers have become smarter than ever.  As humans, we pick up on patterns and sequences, and eventually: we learn that when something’s overly produced, it's more likely that someone’s about to sell us something. So, instead of trying to nail perfection, why not nail human connection? 🤝 Stay authentic. Make mistakes. Show your audience who you truly are without the Photoshopped, filtered nuances of what you think your followers would rather see. Because chances are, you’ll achieve greater success by being yourself than by trying to be someone you’re not: an overly produced, perfected, curated version of you. Case in point? Video content of myself that’s shot without any filters, fancy texts, or planned content do so much better than those that are scripted. 😉 So…what’s stopping you from showing up as your raw, unfiltered self? 💭 #LinkedIn #OutreachStrategy #ContentMarketing #Marketing #BuildingConnections