Mining Your Stumbles for Pivots into Strategic Growth

Through sheer work ethic, I was able to build some solid career momentum in my late teens and early twenties. Never one to pass up an opportunity simply because I didn’t have the qualifications listed as required on a job posting, I took some chances that I was far from capable of - at least in the moment. Taking those chances led to some of the setbacks and stumbles we’ve just worked through. When my high hopes hit reality, we’re forced to settle for what we have or search for the seeds of greater benefit. From there, the only option I saw was to make some tough decisions, then pivot as needed to get where I wanted to go.

Looking back, none of those experiences seem significant now. But even those early professional setbacks and the personal changes I decided to make to support forward progress all served as fertile ground for extracting what I now see as leadership seeds. That said, each required reflection and firm decisions - much of which I didn’t commit to until years later. Even small, quiet failures can force us to confront blind spots, build definiteness of decision, and strengthen self-control - turning bad situations into foundation preparation for building the influence necessary to genuinely lead others. That leadership emerges not from avoiding stumbles but from intentionally mining them for seeds.

With that in mind, let’s consider some simple steps you can use in mining your stumbles for pivots in strategic growth. As we did in looking for our foundational seeds before, here are five questions you can work through:

1. What early career stumble still resonates or stings for you?
2. What specific blind spot or habit did it reveal, and what seed of greater benefit was hidden there?
3. How could a decisive pivot (or one you've already made) strengthen your self-control or definiteness of decision?
4. In what ways might nurturing this seed improve your ability to influence or lead others without formal authority?
5. What are three small, immediate actions you can take this week to plant and begin nurturing that seed?

Targeted reflection and action turn past bad situations into leadership gold - start building your chain now. As you answer each of these, I’ll challenge you to share at least one response with someone you’re willing to be accountable to so you can lock in commitment. Once you’ve done that, you’ll be ready to look at how some of the hidden strengths I was developing helped me balance the chaos that followed.