Failure presents an opportunity to change course and improve performance.  But we have to have the inner strength to stop, look and listen before we destroy ourselves.  We have to stop our current behavior, look at the cause of our failure, listen to what others are telling us both verbally and nonverbally, and then take action to change course. 

As my mother-in-law told the story, she and her brother would hop on their sled on a snowy day and head down the hill from the schoolhouse toward home.  The fastest way back to the farm was straight down the hill, across the railroad tracks, and down another hill to home. As they were whizzing through the snow, heading toward the railroad tracks, they would listen for the warning of a train whistle. If they heard that piercing whistle, they would roll off the sled into the soft snow and wait for the train to pass. Failure to heed the warning whistle would have been disastrous.

We all look for shortcuts in life or in business, but taking a shortcut may be harmful to us. If we don’t or can’t gather all of the information necessary to make a good decision, the decision we make may turn out to be wrong, and we may run head-on into a train. If after you fail, you “stop” before proceeding, “look” at what caused your failure, and “listen” to your inner voice (you know, the one that you ignored just before you made the hasty decision that led to your failure), you will learn valuable lessons from failure. Failure is a silent teacher. Redeem a failure by using it to learn to do better next time.

Outfluence, The Better Way to Influence, was a finalist in the Eric Hoffer Award competition.  This book is filled with stories of the life experiences of people who used silent communication and inspired performance to overcome their challenges.