Karina Cantú tells us her story of failure
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What if it's feedback on your leadership style?
That happened to Karina, a leader at one of the world's largest beer companies and a speaker at one of our Fuckup Nights events for businesses.
Karinagathered her courage to open up and share about the time she received uncomfortable feedback just before what seemed like an opportunity to get a management position.
Read on to learn more about theirstory...
Karina Cantú is a communications specialist with over 15 years of experience developing strategies for organizational transformation through processes, tools, and people. She is passionate about creating experiences that connect with people and strengthen leadership.
Curious and creative, she enjoys exploring emerging trends, traveling, and promoting spaces where learning becomes a driver of innovation.
Karina: Failure is the beginning of a transformation, the impetus toward a new way of doing things. As the song says: it's perfectly normal to hit rock bottom. So, cheer up! The harder you fall, the better prepared youare.
Karina: When I arrived at Heineken's corporate headquarters, I was thrilled. I was finally going to work where the important decisions were made. At first, almost no one knew me, so I worked hard to prove what I was capable of.
Little by little, I gained the trust of my leaders, who entrusted me with increasingly larger and more important projects. And eventually, I ended up leading the Master Calendar. Basically, I orchestrated everything the consumer sees at the point of sale: launches, seasonal promotions, campaigns... everything went through me.
He had visibility, played a leading role in tough meetings with executives, received "exceed expectations"evaluations, and delivered impeccable results.
One day, my manager said to me, "Karina, you've been invited to join a leadership program called First Line Manager." My first thought was, "Wow, this means growth. They're going to give me more tools to lead, they're going to give me a bigger team, I'm going to be a manager."
Finally, they were recognizing all my hard work. I felt like I was playing in the big leagues.
Although my boss made it clear that this did not guarantee me a new position, I couldn't pay much attention to that. All I could think was, "What kind of management position are they going to give me?"
The day of the in-person workshop arrived. It was a very comprehensive workshop, and I was very enthusiastic about participating in everything, taking notes, and thinking about what my strategy would be from then on.
Everything was fine until we got to an exercise where, after self-assessing some skills and behaviors, the team did the same.
I, Karina Cantú, who achieved all my goals on time and in the right way, who achieved what was asked of me, and even more, expected to see a spike in the graph in the negotiation section.
And yes, there was a peak, but it was inverted downward. The only thing I thought was, "This has to be a mistake."
I wanted to prove to the consultant that he was wrong, that I was a good negotiator because I always got what I wanted, and that's when everything changed...
The consultant told me, "Karina lacks empathy, she doesn't listen, she doesn't look for ways to supportothers ."
The outcome went beyond whether or not he achieved what he wanted. It was more about how he achieved it, at what cost and at whose expense.
Karina: I replied, "If you don't like me telling you what to do, then do it first." But right there, I was now faced with a reality that I could no longer ignore.
I kept reading the feedback from my colleagues, and then it started to dawn on me.
Now all the feedback I had received before made sense to me. In a way, I had already received these signals, but I had decided to ignore them.
Reality hit me like a bucket of cold water. I no longer felt powerful, but rather vulnerable.
I spent weeks tormenting myself over everything. Everything I did wrong, the working relationships I damaged, my reputation I tarnished.
I talked to my manager, colleagues, partner, and friends. Then I started working on myself. I thought that if I had been selected for that program, it was because they wanted to give me the tools to grow. So, it was up to me to take advantage of the learning opportunity.
Karina: I couldn't hold on to the bitterness of this experience anymore . I had to start building trust with my colleagues, show more empathy, and let them see my human side.
I learned that you should not treat people as you would like to be treated, but rather as they would like to be treated; and that you can achieve results without neglecting manners.
I stayed in touch with the workshop facilitator, and later he said something to me that I will never forget and always try to remember when I find myself in a difficult situation:
“Cunning as a serpent, gentle as a dove.”
Those were years of learning to better regulate my emotions. Some time later, the organization gave me the opportunity to demonstrate the leadership I was aspiring to. I had bigger projects and critical experiences where I was under a lot of pressure and had to balance delivering results without neglecting the human side. Now, with a larger team and my new role as a mother, I have to put myself to the test in the face of new challenges.
Am I a great leader who no longer makes these mistakes? Definitely not, but I decided to pay more attention to how to inspire rather than impose, to lead with a balance between head and heart.
Karina: "Leadership is a continuous learning process."
💡 FuN: A leader never stops evolving. Create regular opportunities for evaluation and training, mentoring with other leaders, post-mortems, etc. This generates a sense of learning and resilience that spreads to other teams.
Karina: "It's about people, not numbers."
💡 FuN: Good numbers are often the result of a healthy culture. Make decisions that don't neglect the energy and motivation of your teams. Balance their workload, set clear goals, and promote transparency.
Karina: "It's important to have self-awareness."
💡 FuN: Self-awareness is not an innate trait; it can be developed. Implement assessments, coaching, or feedback sessions. This can reduce friction and strengthen team trust.
Karina: "You have to pay attention to feedback because the signs are always there."
💡 FuN: Feedback can also be silent. Observe patterns, silences, staff turnover, apathy, or particular attitudes. Create safe spaces for sharing without fear. This will help you avoid crises in time and manage them better.
Karina: "Strengthen all your relationships."ri💡 FuN: Invest time in your team to build authentic relationships, create spaces to be vulnerable (such as a Fuckup Nights event), and organize activities and moments of connection to get to know each other better and promote trust. This will strengthen your team's resilience and confidence to operate in times of crisis.
Edited by
Ricardo Guerrero
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Let's transform our perception of failure and use it as a catalyst for growth.
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