Rejection Slips Are Not Always Bad

 

Source: http://static4.businessinsider.com

How do you feel when you or your work is rejected? Crushed? Devastated? Even though it might seem surprising, many of the most successful leaders we see nowadays had to endure the harsh consequences of failure in order to become what they are today. 

            As the article “23 Incredibly Successful People Who Failed At First” published in Business Insider website emphasizes, “rejection can feel devastating, but you shouldn't let it crush you. Some of the world's most successful people have failed — sometimes more than once.” Business Insider is a reliable source of an American business and technology news website launched in February 2009 and based in New York City. Also, Business Insider hosts industry conferences including IGNITION, which explores the emerging business models of digital media. In this brief essay, I argue that even though the majority of the people think that the most successful leaders received every single piece of fame without “doing anything”, in fact they had to go though a lot of obstacles and work really hard to be where they are today.

• To start with, looking back at the most famous historical figures, Thomas Edison's teachers told him he was "too stupid to learn anything." However, Edison did not give up and ended up holding more than 1,000 patents and “invented some world- changing device like the phonograph, practical electrical lamp, and a movie camera.” This example shows that even though someone is being treated unfairly, it does not mean that person will necessarily have an unsuccessful life or path of success. I strongly believe that whenever an individual feels like he or she is not being understood good enough and that the “figures” that are supposed to help him or her are not able to see the real talent, that individual should never give up and continue to move forward.

• Another example is the well- known television queen Oprah Winfrey who was fired from her first television job as an anchor in Baltimore, where she said she faced sexism and harassment. Nevertheless, Winfrey “rebounded and became the undisputed queen of television talk shows before amassing a media empire.” Her “worth” today is estimated to be around $2.9 billion, according to Forbes. The example of Oprah Winfrey shows that all of the fortune she has nowadays did not come “out of nowhere”. On the other hand, she was forced to endure very tough challenges that made her more equipped for all of the obstacles that she would meet in her future life. In my opinion, it is very important that all of the people, especially girls, should know their worth and try to show others that the person’s gender does not indicate what kind of success she will have as a leader. Nowadays, thousands of young girls and women are subject to sexual harrassments in their work places and it is quite obvious that all of those assaults should be eliminated in order to produce an environment for women to grow not only as individuals, but as leaders as well.

• To add, Soichiro Honda's unique vision “got him ostracized by the Japanese business community”. Earlier in his life, Honda was a mechanical genius who “idolized Edison and rebelled against the norm.” As he had a passion for aggressive individualism that was more suitable for the United States, later on he was alienated him from Japanese businessmen, who valued teamwork above all else. Even though he was rejected, Honda did not simply give up and instead “challenged the American automotive industry in the 1970s and led a Japanese automotive revolution.” I think the example of Soichiro Honda strongly shows that even when one is rejected because of his “heretic” ideas, there always needs to be an urge to move forward as no one knows what kind of fortune and success might be waiting just around the corner. As often happens in high school life, many students can be thought of as “stupid” or “too nerdy” when they present ideas that might seem to be contrary to the recognized standards. However, those ideas might turn out to be not so “idiotic” if the owner receives a lot of success as a consequence of being “weird”.

• The last, but as interesting as the others is the story of J.K. Rowling who was a “single mom living off welfare when she began writing the first "Harry Potter" novel.” As everyone knows, living off of welfare is particularly difficult, especially if the individual is a single mom. Many young women give up at this point and don’t seek anything better. Rowling, on the other hand, managed to cope with all the difficulties and move forward. As a result, she is now “internationally renowned for her seven-book Harry Potter series and, in U.S. currency, became the first billionaire author in 2004.” In my opinion, this situation perfectly shows that the billionaires we see today did not receive all the money with “doing nothing”. In fact, as can be clearly seen now, they started from zero and challenged themselves to become more creative and, ultimately, more successful.

All in all, the real life situations of a few of the world- known leaders prove the claim that the most successful leaders are those people that had to go through a lot to be able to move forward. They also emphasize that if any progress is to be achieved in the future, the people that want to become successful should never give up and, most importantly, think creatively and uniquely.

Questions that I will be trying to answer in the future research:

1. What are the factors that could influence the person and make him a better leader?
2. What methods do leaders use in order to be more productive, reach better results and, therefore, be more successful?
3. Does the country the person lives in influence the level of success he or she can have as a leader?
4. Does the age of the person influence the amount of success he or she will have as a leader?