LEADERSHIP LESSONS
Experience Is A Tough Teacher Why we should never stop learning our lessons. BY HARVEY MACKAY | SPECIAL TO NATIONAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL
H
ave you ever heard the expression “seeing the elephant?” It’s an expression that came out of the California gold rush. Those planning to go west in search of gold announced to their friends that they were “going to see the elephant.” Those who turned back discouraged claimed they had seen “the elephant’s tracks” or the “elephant’s tail,” and admitted that view was sufficient. The Oxford Dictionary defines it this way: “to see the elephant: to see life, the world, or the sights; to get experience of life, to gain knowledge by experience.” Here’s my take on it: To know the road ahead, ask those coming back. Or take the road yourself and see what you learn. Of course, it’s a lot easier to learn from others’ mistakes and often much less costly.
Experience is the dividend you get from your mistakes. Reportedly, Thomas Watson, the founder and first president of IBM, was asked if he was going to fire an employee who made a mistake that cost IBM $600,000. He said, “No, I just spent $600,000
somebody else to hire his experience?” Watson was quoted in Reader’s Digest as saying: “Double your rate of failure ... Failure is a teacher – a harsh one, perhaps, but the best ... That’s what I have to do when an idea backfires or a sales program fails. You’ve got to put failure to work for you ... you can be discouraged by failure or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because that’s where you will find success. On the far side of failure.”
training him. Why would I want
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PERSONAL TOUCH But for most of us, we have to experience things for ourselves. When the outcome is good, we call it a successful experience. But when things don’t work out as we hoped, we call it a “learning” experience. Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes. It is an expensive teacher sometimes.
PEOPLE ON THE MOVE //
> Planet Home Lending hired Walt Nally as area sales manager for the Southern California area.
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| NATIONAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL MAGAZINE
> Matt Rocco
was sworn in as the MBA’s vice chairman.
> Nations
Lending named Simon Amor as branch manager for its Milford branch.
> First
Community Mortgage named Antonion Roundtree as the company’s vice president of Community Engagement.
