No one succeeds without their fair share of rejection.
Not everyone is going to like, buy, or accept what you promote. Rejection is inevitable.
But feeling hurt or disappointed after being turned down doesn’t do much to make matters better. Wallowing in the bitter taste of rejection simply undermines confidence and results in less risk-taking in the future.
There must be a better way of dealing with it.
Rejection doesn’t have to be a derailer. Good leaders don’t celebrate rejection or feel good about it. But they think about it differently than most.
They focus on the opportunity and the chance to compete instead of how much it stings. They know the real lesson in rejection is not to do less, but to do more.
The only way to get rejected is by taking the chance to propose something new. Probability alone suggests a significant portion of those proposals are going to fall short. On the flip side, a proportion of those attempts to persuade will likely succeed. The framing and logic of this is critically important. The more we get rejected, the more we succeed.
When a leader looks at rejection from this vantage, the idea of being turned down takes on a different color. Rejection doesn’t represent a dismissal or snubbing. It is an opportunity taken that didn’t materialize.
Focusing on the opportunity rather than on the outcome encourages a shift in thinking. The goal is not to avoid rejection but to create more opportunities. Success depends on more shots on goal.
Good leaders don’t accept rejection or feel immune to its bite. Quite the contrary. They attempt to learn what they can from it and do their best to avoid letting its discomfort take too much of their energy.
They know that success is a consequence of how many times they are willing to be rejected. Therefore, they are always attempting to produce more chances. It sounds strange to say it this way, but the best leaders can’t wait to be rejected. To increase the probability of acceptance, they know they must roll the dice and play as many times as they can.
They view rejection as a necessary precursor to their success. Of the many dangers leaders face, none is more life-threatening than the safety of less rejection.
