Forget Perfection: Go Out Of Your Way To Make Mistakes

Perfection is overrated. It’s almost comical how obsessed we’ve become with it. Whether it’s at work, at home, or anything in between, everybody acts like perfection is the standard we’re supposed to hit every single time. And the moment someone slips up, the scrutiny comes fast and hard. We’ve elevated perfection so high that it ends up working against us more than it ever helps.

And nowhere is this more true than in leadership development. Growing as a leader, or helping someone else grow, requires honesty, discomfort, and the willingness to step straight into things you don’t have all figured out. Leadership development is messy. It challenges your assumptions. It exposes your blind spots. It forces you to confront parts of yourself you’d rather ignore. The whole process contradicts perfection. Yet somehow, we still expect perfection while doing it.

That contradiction is exactly why so many people stall out. Leadership development isn’t a clean, ascending staircase. It’s a series of awkward experiments, uncomfortable realizations, and moments where you try something new and it just doesn’t work. But because so many workplaces treat mistakes like character flaws, people play it safe. They stick to what they already know. They avoid the situations that stretch them. And they call that “being responsible,” when in reality, it’s just fear wearing a professional mask.

The refusal to make mistakes is the single biggest mistake people make in their leadership journey. When perfection is the goal, growth becomes impossible. You wind up repeating the same thinking, the same behaviors, and the same solutions over and over again, and then wondering why your leadership impact hasn’t changed. There’s no breakthrough without friction. No growth without stretch. No development without stumbling.

Think back to the strongest leaders you’ve ever observed. Not one of them became who they are by walking a flawless path. They became capable because they stepped into things they didn’t yet know how to do. They learned by trying. They learned by failing. They learned by reflecting and adjusting. Their leadership strength wasn’t the absence of mistakes — it was the ability to recover from them.

Yet many organizations still cling to leadership models that look good on paper but don’t work in practice. They rely on outdated ideas simply because they’re familiar, comfortable, or “the way we’ve always done it.” People often protect old systems not because they’re effective but because they’re safe, predictable, and ego‑preserving — qualities that have nothing to do with actual leadership growth. And in that kind of environment, mistakes aren’t viewed as learning, they’re viewed as weakness. So people stop taking the very risks that would actually make them better leaders.

But mistakes do something perfection never will: they clarify. They reveal blind spots. They challenge faulty assumptions. They shine a light on the gap between who we are today and who we’re capable of becoming. That gap shouldn’t intimidate us; it should motivate us. Leaders who see mistakes as data, instead of defects, grow faster, think sharper, and adapt quicker than those who cling to an image of having it all together.

If you want to grow as a leader: Make more mistakes — on purpose. Do the thing you haven’t mastered yet. Try the approach you aren’t certain will work. Ask the question that may not land well. Challenge the belief that everyone else tiptoes around. Say the hard thing that needs to be said.

This isn’t about being reckless. It’s about intentionally stepping into areas where you can’t hide behind competence or comfort. Every one of those little “risks” expands your capacity. Every misstep gives you new insight. Every uncomfortable moment sharpens your leadership instincts in a way perfection never could.

And here’s the twist most people overlook: people don’t trust perfect leaders. They trust human ones. They trust leaders who are learning. Leaders who admit when they’re wrong. Leaders who adapt. Leaders who grow right in front of them. That honesty builds psychological safety which is the very foundation of high‑performing teams and modern leadership cultures.

Perfection doesn’t build leaders; mistakes do.

Perfection creates rigidity; mistakes build resilience.

Perfection feeds ego; mistakes grow humility.

Perfection creates fear; mistakes create innovation.

If there’s one thing you should chase more aggressively, it’s not flawlessness, it’s the kind of challenges that force you to stretch. So go out of your way to make mistakes. Then go out of your way to learn from them. Because leadership has never been about getting everything right. It's about getting better.

Dr. Neal McIntyre, DPA