[coffeemug]

> It was the fear of failing (or admitting failure) that lead us to fail, because we were afraid to fail, we failed.

You can do everything right and still fail. That's just life -- it's no fun facing it, but that's the way it is.

EDIT: also, another bit of wisdom from the realm of inspirational quotes:

> There is always doubt. No sane man would deny that. But no good captain would admit it. What good would that knowledge do to the men who are trying to focus on doing their jobs? So we dance the dance. Never was there a caesar who couldn't sing the tune.

[poof131]

Agree with your first point, but somewhat disagree with the inspiration quote. After a decade in the military and seeing some great leaders in fighter aviation and special forces, competency and empathy are the critical traits, not false bravado.

Is your leader good at their job? Do they see the reality of the situation at hand? Will they make decisions and take actions that are required by the mission but also in your best interests too?

As a leader (or pilot/operator) you don’t want to dwell on all the little things that could go wrong or linger on the fact you could die on your mission, but you don’t want to ignore the reality of the challenges you will face.

No one believes in the person who puts their head in the sand. A leader shouldn’t share all the burdens they cary, that’s part of their job, but they also shouldn’t delude themselves into thinking a smile and confident attitude will cary the day.

Think about your team. Be honest with your people. Be as good as you can. Do your best at the task at hand. And then try to smile at whatever comes and say ‘fuck it’. Perhaps the quote is trying to describe that last part, but too many leaders forget the competency and empathy parts, the parts that enable the whole team to say ‘fuck it’ and run into the breach.

[lostcolony]

And one of the more famous quotes of a certain starship captain - "It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness; that is life."

[maxxxxx]

Somewhere in the Bhagavad Gita there is this quote: "You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.". So you have a duty do your best but there is no guarantee that it will result in success. There is still an element of Karma or luck, whatever you may call it.

[jd_routledge]

Awesome quote - gonna add it to the post.

I didn't want the post to be all doom and gloom, just real and honest.

I think your quote could add a bit more positivity lol - where's it from?

[bootload]

"There is always doubt. No sane man would deny that. But no good captain would admit it."

Simple message, don't amplify failure.

[mastre_]

Love the quote, Black Sails?

[crpatino]

> No sane man would deny that. But no good captain would admit it.

There has to be a limit, though. I think there is a difference between strategically ignore hard situations for morale reasons and simple stuborness.

For some reason, this joke came to mind...

There was this young frenchman NCO who was appointed as Napoleon's aide. The man noticed that his master would, in the wake of a difficult battle, always make the same request:

"Jean-Baptiste, bring me my red shirt".

When he finally gathered the courage to question the Emperor about this curious behavior, the great general responded.

"The red shirt is meant to conceal any blood, so that the courage of my armies doesn't shatters at a critical point in battle, if I were to come wounded."

For years, Jean-Baptiste remained true and loyal to Napoleon, in good or ill. Then, in the wake of Waterloo, with all the armies of Europe allied together to stop them, he knew everything was lost when his master added a second request to the red shirt.

"And Jean-Baptiste, bring me my brown trousers as well".