Bill Gates never hired executives who hadn’t already failed.
His reasoning: “The first time you experience failure will be with us, and you won’t be prepared.”
They’ve never found out what they’re made of and you’re about to put them in a role where they will. On your watch.
This quote is often attributed to Bill Gates and it might be an urban legend.
It doesn’t matter. What matters is the idea behind it.
It also suggests: “If you never failed, you haven’t tried enough.”
And yet most of us still hire the opposite way.
Too often, hiring focuses on spotless résumés, candidates who look perfect on paper, who seem to have done everything “right.” And it’s understandable.
But failure, faced head on, becomes an asset.
Because real failure is falling ant not getting back again. Falling and getting back is not failure.
And with business environments changing constantly, companies merging and acquiring others, disruptions turning your once complex solutions into commodities, and new market leaders appearing “out of the blue,” the odds that you’ll stay unaffected gets slimmer everyday.
That’s when failure shows what matters in leadership
· Resilience – Leaders who’ve faced setbacks learn how to bounce back stronger and guide teams through uncertainty
· Problem-solving – Mistakes sharpen the ability to adapt, and innovate under pressure
· Humility – Experiencing failure keeps egos in check and fosters empathy for others’ struggles
· Preparedness – Leaders who’ve stumbled before are less likely to panic when the stakes are high
· Risk and initiative taking – Staying within the path is not a key leadership quality
· People skills – True leaders are able to drive and motivate teams when times are rough. Leadership skills, or the lack of them, show under a crude light when the boat is being rocked.
When evaluating candidates, especially for leadership roles, don’t just ask about successes. Dig deeper. Ask about the times they’ve fallen short, and more importantly, how they responded.
Some interview questions might include:
· Tell me about a failure you experienced. What did you learn?
· When a project didn’t go as planned, how did you handle the aftermath?
· How has a past mistake shaped the way you lead today?
These questions uncover more than skills.
They show whether someone has the self-awareness to learn from missteps and the resilience to keep moving forward.
Look for stories of growth, not perfection.
A recruiter told me once: “I want to present candidates, but all clients ask for are CVs.”
The CV is a conversation starter, not the conclusion. Value lessons learned as much as milestones achieved. Recognize that the best leaders are battle-tested, not failure-free.
I’ve sat in enough interview rooms to know how this actually plays out. We say we want resilience. Then someone spots a gap on a CV, or a title that didn’t go up for two years, and the conversation ends before it starts. Nobody names it. It just happens.
Whether or not Bill Gates actually said those words matters less than the principle behind them: the leaders most prepared for tomorrow are those who have already navigated adversity.
👉 If you’re hiring, make space for failure stories in your process.
👉 If you’re leading, share your own failures. They’ll inspire trust and growth in others, faster than any success story will.
Failure isn’t the end of the road. It’s the training ground for succeeding and leading your teams during tough times ahead.
👉 Big results don’t need big transformations. A few targeted moves. Immediate ROI. Let’s talk.
