Being Ourselves, Making a Difference.

“Each person is only as good as the comeback from their greatest failures.”

Although this may not be my first blog, this might be the first time you’ve heard of me, so, by way of introduction, my name is Walid Abdallah. You may or may not know, in the last year I organised four amazing networking events, such successes are good to hear about, but more importantly, I’ve learned my failures are a truer reflection of my character. After four events, I wanted the fifth to be bigger and better, to take place this year, and to be with Accenture. Although this event did not come to light due to circumstances beyond the control of Accenture and myself, it was still not easy to accept the event wouldn’t take place at the time I wanted it.

Every morning I’ve noticed people introduce themselves, by what they do, rather than who they are and how they’ve proven who they say they are, myself included (bit of a tongue twist that). During my brief time at Accenture, I’ve found that by introducing yourself by title, holds an assumption that the title itself naturally carries with it a predetermined set of personal qualities, for example, the title ‘Lead’ carries with it the assumption that the person with this title possesses good leadership abilities. Although this is an oversimplified example, it’s important to be aware of how others perceive you, and what qualities you may or may not communicate to others. The best indication of someone’s character is when one admits to learning from their failures, because it’s often a different tone of conversation where two people begin to really understand each other and connect – there is trust involved in sharing such aspects with someone you’ve just met for the first time.

Normalising the ‘failure’ conversation is an endeavor that will take us years to achieve but it’s a must if we intend for younger individuals to get a real picture of what it takes to be a professional with human characteristics. Learning and improvement is ultimately a human characteristic, so we shouldn’t be so ashamed of displaying weakness. Since most of us work in the Agile sphere to some extent, the services we provide as a company are characterised by retrospective thinking and continuous improvement, so if we strive to implement better Agile practices in our work, we should ideally do the same for our lives.

Our failure makes us, it builds our character, and therefore each person is only as good as the comeback from their greatest failures.

Below, I’m explaining to others how I wish my fifth event would hurry up and happen:

You can read Walid’s first blog here. If you would like to learn more about our Apprenticeship opportunities, visit our website.