I’ve had interviews where I’m asked to describe a time I failed as a leader. Fair enough. But in finance, failure isn’t exactly encouraged. Most of us are trained to avoid mistakes, especially when they affect real dollars. I struggle with how to answer without sounding reckless or incompetent. How do you tell an honest failure story that still shows you’re someone who learns and leads well?

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A good response to that would be to focus on an incident where you saw failure approaching and forestalled it. There are times when we get things wrong, but when we realize that, and how we took action, is what really matters. It reminds me of how Charlie Munger would talk about all the mistakes Berkshire made early on, such as investing in companies he and Buffett realized were doomed. They got out, preserved the capital they could, learned a lot, and lived to play another day.

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I can usually come up with a scenario that is a "failure" but isn't a huge deal if that makes sense. I never tell them about some catostrophic mistake because I don't want to make myself look bad you know?

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It’s hard

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