Pulse Legacy Archive November 2012 | Page 8

Pulse preview O f all the random questions people ask me, there’s one that leaves me with the longest pause: What’s your biggest failure? It’s not that I have never failed, because I have done so—and at times, in spectacular fashion. Rather, my struggle to give an honest answer stems from perspective. After all, as I’ve gained more wisdom and experience, I soon realized that those I’ve defined as failures in the past are no more than essentials to my story of success. This is the fallacy of failure and success. This issue’s guest expert, The Innovation Paradox: The Success of Failure, The Failure of Success coauthor Ralph Keyes, couldn’t be any more correct when he said in Conversations (page 20) that failure and success are no more than impostors that often masquerade each other. In Christine Schilling’s Startup —Former U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy Stories: Tales of Humble Beginnings, Struggles and Success (page 32), operating a business during the Great Depression could easily be defined as a failure waiting to happen, but this didn’t stop Elizabeth Arden, founder of Red Door Spas, from building an empire. Fear of failure is what cripples us to succeed. We’ve seen it time and again in the rise and fall of once-innovative companies and leaders who were paralyzed by the idea of protecting one’s lead, leaving them afraid to charter on to new territories. Guest contributor and Professional Development Session speaker Tanya Chernova (read “Is Your Spa Programmed for Success or Sabotage?” on page 26) thinks that “once we reach a level of progress, we trigger self-sabotage” for fear of failure. In Keyes’ words, this is the agony in victory. Oh, what paradox! Isn’t it true that we sometimes find ourselves triumphant in failure and miserable in success? And yes, isn’t it true that our biggest failure could also be our biggest success, simply for the reason that we dared? —MAE MAÑACAP-JOHNSON, EDITOR 6 PULSE ■ November 2012 PHOTO © TIFFANY BROWN “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” Follow us on Twitter! @ISpaDoYou WANT TO HAVE A CONVERSATION? Send me your thoughts at [email protected]. Wondering what’s on the most wanted list? Find out in Pulse’s “Most Wanted: Spa Bestsellers” Special Advertising Supplement on pages 49 - 55.