When Failure Becomes a Credential

Abraham Lincoln was one of my favorite presidential characters growing up.

Something about his larger-than-life appearance and that iconic stovepipe hat captured my imagination.  I wrote more than a few stories about Lincoln in my writing assignments in school. And now, ironically, I live in an old farmhouse that was built when he was serving as president in 1860.

Some of my favorite leadership stories about Lincoln comes from “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln”, written by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

Abraham Lincoln failed—a lot.

He lost multiple elections.

He struggled with depression.

He was often underestimated, mocked, and dismissed.

By today’s standards, his career path would look anything but “successful.”

And yet… he became one of the most influential presidents of all time. Not because he avoided failure—but because he refused to let failure define him.

Yesterday’s failures don’t dictate tomorrow’s outcomes. They shape us. They refine us. They make us more human.

If you are like me, you’ve learned that past failure often becomes the very thing that makes you more relatable as a leader. It qualifies you to lead with more clarity, humility, and courage—because the real breakthroughs in business (and life) rarely come from our biggest wins, but from our hardest seasons.

-Rusty Fulling