Leadership Isn’t Learned in Theory

Came across Mark Twain’s line again today - 

“A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.”

And I smiled. Because isn’t that true for all of us?

In theory, we should be learning from others’ mistakes. In reality, some lessons just refuse to sink in until we’ve lived them, scratched, surprised and all.

As leaders, we read, we listen, we observe, yet every now and then, we still end up holding the cat by the tail. That’s how growth works. It’s rarely elegant, but it’s always honest.

So yes, make your mistakes.

Just make them with awareness.

And maybe, don’t hold the same cat by the tail twice. 😉

Because mistakes don’t make you less wise - they just make your wisdom more believable.

#RiseWithRitu #Leadership #LearningCurve #Growth #People