In my last post I had highlighted the benefits of being a young entrepreneur in experiencing failure sooner rather than later in life (Why Youth Can Be an Advantage in Being an Entrepreneur).  As I was working on that story I kept thinking about how the same advice holds true for the young employee as well.  Learning from our failures doesn’t have to equate to getting older.  Last week I published an article on The 5 Traits of Those Who Learn and Grow from Failure for YouTern.com, a publication focused on students looking for internships or recent college graduates.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

Steve Jobs really hit the nail on the head during his 2005 Stanford University commencement address when he said, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward.”

With this observation, Jobs meant we can only truly understand how our experiences have shaped our lives by looking back at our successes and, just as importantly, our failures.

Your failures — and your willingness to learn and grow from them — have the capacity to boost your positive attributes in unsuspecting ways. Here are some characteristics that failures can shape, and why companies are quick to snatch up interns and young careerists who possess them:

I suggest that there are some key traits that can be demonstrated from individuals who have failed and take the time to learn from their failures, including: Humility, Perseverance, Confidence, Curiosity, and Culture.  I would love to hear your thoughts!

Here is a link to the full article: The 5 Traits of Those Who Learn and Grow from Failure

Food for thought:

• Whether hiring an intern or a full-time employee have you ever asked a candidate about their failures?
• Have you learned any positive traits from your failures?
• Which trait of the five do you most seek in your new hires?