Let Failure Fuel Your Success

Stacy Keogh

Let failure play a part in your Success! A mantra that resonates with Brightwater's Stacy Keogh, Senior Consultant on Brightwater’s IT team a month after the Women in Tech Summit. Stacy discusses learnings from the Summit on the importance of using failure, criticism & feedback to fuel your success!

#WomeninTech; Let failure play a part in your Success

1. Don`t be afraid of Failure
2. Don’t shy away from feedback
3. Use criticism to become a better version of yourself.

At the Women in Tech Summit, being able to meet so many successful women in one room really struck a chord in me throughout the entire day and it resonated with me for several days afterwards. There was so much excellent advice and insights into how these successful women got to where they are today and one thing that they all had in common was how they allowed failure, criticism and feedback carve them into the wonderful women they are today. In our day to day work, especially in the world of recruitment where there is such a roller-coaster of emotions, you can sometimes forget that the failures, the criticism and the feedback along the way really help you in your success. It's all about learning how to; as Sarah Cunningham VP of Mastercard said “filtering through the bull”, and taking the feedback as advice and using it to become a better version of yourself.

Take the time to think about your failures, speak to a peer mentor about feedback or criticism you were given and don`t hide away from it. It is going to help you. It's not going to break you. Don`t allow it. As women, we tend to over think- we get emotional and it’s a great trait, it gives us something that men don't have 😊 but learn when to take the emotion away. This was something that all the women who spoke at the event found difficult and gave great examples but they have found ways and allowed this to carve out the success they have gained today.

What I took away from the event and what I will feel will play a large part in my future success are the following:

1. Stop peanut buttering your time and the Covey Quadrant Technique “Caroline O `Reilly Senior Director of Engineering at Workday” - Be laser focused and plan at the beginning of everyday what is important and what you should work on. Don't be afraid to say NO as this will allow you to focus on what you know is important. In my career in tech recruitment, it is vital that I plan and organise my day and ensure I am getting the best out of my time. Never having heard of the Covey Quadrant before Caroline's speech, it is now something I will adapt in my day to day life. It will be my money maker.
2. Take Feedback as Advice: I meet and speak to so many people every day (clients, candidates and colleagues) and I believe I need to become more open to asking for feedback and not being afraid of what they might say. Have confidence in your success and use feedback as a guide to becoming an even better version of yourself. I believe my candidates and clients will buy into this as they see you as a person- not just a recruiter across a table or at the other end of the phone. Learn from the people around you- this will only make you better.
3. Allow Failure be part of your success: Take the emotion out of it, stop taking it personal and allow yourself to take in the failures. Of course we are emotional beings and I am a firm believer that it gives us successful women something that men don’t always have in the work place, however use it in the right way. Know when to take the emotion out of it; don't over-think it. Speak to a peer mentor, a leader, someone who you look up to and you know will be honest with you and let it sink in. Discuss it, take it in, use it as a learning technique and become a better version of yourself. You will grow from it and this will continue to happen throughout your entire career, no matter how successful you are. When you look back on it- you will remember the failures. They make you who you are.
4. There are successful women all around me: Coming from a family where males were the bread winners and the women stayed at home with the kids- I feel I am privileged to be surrounded by hard working successful, strong and talented women every day. At Brightwater we have an incredible team of women at the top. The recent management buyout includes 2 unbelievable women who have worked very hard throughout their careers, Managing Director Barbara McGrath and Estelle Davis Managing Partner of Brightwater Executive - It only confirms my belief and confidence that the sky is the limit for us ladies and I will also one day find my way to the top. I am surrounded by excellent managers, leaders, and top of the leader board women who have had failures, criticism, bad days, €0 commission months but they took the bad days, the bad months, the feedback and everything that comes from the bad times and created the Brilliant Women they are today. They did not allow it to take from their success and instead used it to become better versions of themselves.

It is great to see more and more women at the top and there was no doubt the #Wintechology event really proved that Ireland is full of very successful women.

Every failure, every curve ball, every melt down will allow you to become better versions of yourself. Use the above to rewire yourself for success, allow it to fuel your journey, own your career and ladies remember; You can do anything you put your mind to!