Q. INSIGHTs & INTUITION

What is a lesson you have learned in your professional career that you wish you knew sooner?

Two important lessons I have learned are that titles do not make leaders, and do not to be afraid of the “other F word” – Failure.

Impactful leadership is leading with purpose in everything you do, and how you do it. If you have to remind people that you are the leader, you probably aren’t – and those around you won’t see you as someone they want to follow.

To achieve success, you must also be given the chance to fail. More importantly, you must embrace it, accept responsibility for it, and be willing and able to learn from it.

Jeff Olson President/CEO Dakota Credit Union Association Bismarck, N.D.

I once came across a report from a Harvard business professor that indicated that most entrepreneurs fail four times before they succeed. There are many great American success stories that support this theory. Great leaders have often experienced failure on their path to achieving success. Leaders such George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Harry Truman all experienced early life failures. Great innovators such as Milton Hershey, Henry Ford, Walt Disney, and countless others have experienced failures, often several times over, before they eventually achieved success. While I have achieved many successes throughout my professional journey and have been blessed many times over, behind each achievement were some failures, both large and small.

Each setback impacted me differently; some have even been painful. However, almost always, these setbacks have been beneficial in the long run because they taught me what I needed to do to be successful or achieve something greater for myself or my family.

I have learned that adversity makes me stronger and more resilient. I also learned humility and became more grateful. It most certainly made me a better servant and impactful leader and influencer.

Don’t let any failure define you or your character; it’s all part of the journey.

There are two main things I wish I had known sooner when staring my career in architecture. There will be challenges and obstacles, it cannot be avoided and helps you grow and always be open to learning from others.

You need to always keep your career goals in the forefront of what you are doing daily. By keeping true to who you are you will be able to dig deep when you need to climb above obstacles whenever you have setbacks. The most important part of challenges and obstacles is how you handle those difficult situations. Have the courage to speak up and propose ideas and try to deal with any concern proactively and strategically, not letting emotions get in the way of the job. Knowing your limits and asking for help when facing something you haven’t encountered cultivates respect within your team. Take every opportunity to learn from others. None of us can be the expert in every portion of our job and listening with an open mind to all ideas, valuing each person’s contribution, and looking for the positive always makes a team stronger. And a final thought — truly loving something you do for your career allows you to look beyond the challenges. Architecture for me is an opportunity to be a part of a community which creates something much bigger than myself.

Jessica Egge Director of interior design Ackerman-Estvold Minot, N.D.