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Business Lessons From a Spelling Bee

Posted by Gayle Kesten Friday, Jun 6, 2008, 03:10 PM ET

Today my son was in the third grade spelling bee. For weeks I have been containing my excitement, which finally escaped in the form of an extremely loud snort/laugh when Jared stood up on stage and spoke his name.

Yes, his Mom is a d-o-r-k.

For Jared, his moment in the spotlight was just that -- a moment. Poor kid struck out with his first word, "dry," thinking he was asked to spell "drive." (To his credit, he did spell drive correctly.) "Sorry, Jared," he was told. But my guy took the news in complete stride and actually cha-cha'ed his way off-stage with a smile.

We should all take failure so lightly.

When it comes down to it, I'm most proud of Jared for two reasons. First, to perform in front of peers, parents and administration takes guts. I'm not sure at his age I would have had the nerve -- you know, the stuff you find at the very core of entrepreneurship.

Second, Jared sincerely clapped for each and every one of his competitors. Respect for opponents turns out to be Tip No. 2 in an article from Family Education about good sportsmanship. It's a great trait to carry into the business world, as well; what you put out is what comes back to you, if you buy into The Secret. Sounds like a healthy premise to me. Playing fair is FE's 5th tip, another goodie if you plan to look at yourself in the mirror.

One other childhood-based lesson that applies to the business world comes from a commencement address last month at Webster University's School of Business and Technology. It was delivered by Dean Benjamin Ola. Akande, who spoke about quite possibly the world's most famous egg, Humpty Dumpty:

"All of us can recall the rhyme -- Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty Dumpty together again. Yes, the key word to focus on is the very last word of the rhyme -- 'again.' This confirms that this was not the first time Humpty had fallen. Humpty was a serial risk taker. He was bold, fearless and somewhat entrepreneurial. Humpty had attempted to pursue this personal goal before and somehow fell short. But this egg was not going to allow failure to define him. Climbing a wall is moving beyond where you are. Climbing a wall is overcoming adversity. Climbing a wall is challenging conventional wisdom. There is a Humpty Dumpty in all of us."

And maybe a spelling bee contestant, too.

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