Don’t Fear Failure—Learn From It!
Appeared in the June Issue of Funeral Women Lead’s monthly newsletter, Unleash Your Greatness, on June 12, 2025. www.funeralwomenlead.org
A few months ago, Arianna Huffington, founder and CEO of a company called Thrive Global, wrote a blog post about the leadership lessons she learned from her mother. One of the most important lessons her mother shared was about how we should think about failure. Her mother taught her not to fear failing. Instead, we should accept failure and learn from it because that’s how we grow and eventually become successful.
Her mother’s lesson reminds me of the way Thomas Edison kept trying until he invented the light bulb. Before he finally made a working light bulb, Edison failed 1,000 times. But he didn’t see those 1,000 tries as mistakes or wasted time. He saw them as 1,000 different ways that didn’t work. Each failure helped him get closer to the right answer. This shows that failure isn’t the end—it’s part of the process of learning and achieving success.
Arianna pointed out that in today’s society, people feel a lot of pressure to succeed in school and at work. Because of this, many people are afraid of failing—especially women. Studies have shown that women often fear failure more than men. One reason is that there are negative stereotypes about women, especially when they go after jobs or careers that aren’t usually seen as “normal” for women.
Because of this, women might put more pressure on themselves to do everything perfectly. They may care more about what others think of them and feel more hurt by negative comments. When they fail, they might take it more personally than men do because they don’t want to make the unfair stereotypes about women seem true.
When women are really worried about failing, they might avoid going after their dreams—especially in jobs in a male-dominated field, like the funeral service and deathcare field. This fear of failure can make some women doubt themselves and feel like they can’t succeed or do well in these kinds of jobs. If they keep avoiding their goals because of fear, it can lower their confidence and make them feel less happy with their lives.
Funeral Women Lead knows that women working in the funeral and deathcare field face many challenges. Our goal is to help women unleash their greatness. One way we do this is by helping them overcome their fear of failure. We encourage women to face challenges and learn from their mistakes instead of being afraid of them.
Our Women’s Leadership Academy, Wellness Summit, and coaching and mentoring programs are designed to help women:
• Learn to see failure as a chance to grow and improve.
• Build the courage to take risks, even if there’s a chance they might fail.
• Gain confidence in themselves and their ability to succeed.
• Bounce back from setbacks and keep working toward their goals.
• Understand that failure is a normal part of reaching personal and professional success.
By supporting women in these ways, we empower them to step into leadership with confidence, resilience, and a fearless mindset for the future.
By Dr. Ruth Bedell
Executive Research & Development Director
Funeral Women Lead