Failure is something we often get frightened by the thought of. It usually is followed by embarrassments and de-motivations, feelings we never want to deal with. But history advises against fleeing from failure as it often builds us to become stronger, and better prepared for the successes ahead. A man who hasn’t failed is a man who hasn’t tried to become successful, goes a common saying.
Below are a few of the world’s greatest business leaders who have toiled the road of failure.
Henry Ford – legendary Ford for worked for Detroit Automobile Company that shut down within a year due to low productivity and bad quality.
Akio Morito and co-founder Masaru Ibuka started Sony Corporation in 1946. Their first product was an automatic rice cooker that did not cook properly and failed.
Steve Jobs was removed from his own company in 1985. Ten years later he re-joined and in 2015 Apple and through his brilliant concept of simplicity grew Apple into a $700 billion business.
Jerry Yang – co-founder of Yahoo….had to leave his position due to falling revenues. In 2012, he left completely and is now a mentor to tech start-ups and renowned investor.
Soichiro Honda was once refused an engineering job by Toyota Motor Corporation – the Honda GP team is also one of the most successful racing teams in the history of MotoGP.
Harland David Saunders – the colonel Sander’s fried chicken recipe was rejected by many restaurants before KFC became 18000 outlets strong across the world.
Steven Spielberg’s application was rejected three times by the University Of Southern California School Of Theatre. He is one of the most renowned directors in the world.
Professor Robert Stenberg received a C symbol in his first introductory class in psychology. In 2002 he was elected the America Association President and has received 13 Honorary degrees from universities across the globe.
Vera Wang failed to make it onto the US Olympic figure-skating team….she is now a top wedding f]dress and fashion designer.
At 24 Charlie Chaplin’s character movie failed and was told he is too young. He added a moustache and baggy pants and a tramp became the world’s funny man.
Thomas Edison tried more than 10000 times to invent the light bulb. His teacher also told him he was too stupid to learn anything.
Fred Smith’s professor told him that his Fed EX concept was “interesting, but not feasible”
Dick Cheney, former Vice President of the United States of America, dropped out of Yale, returned and dropped out for good.
Sir Isaac Newton’s mother took him out of school to run the family farm, only to become the most influential scientist in physics and mathematics.
K.K. Rowling was a single mother living off welfare when she began writing Harry Potter.
Billionaire Nick Woodman, the founder of GoPro failed with two tech start-ups during the dot.com bubble.
