The rise of social media means we are now living in an era of perfectionism, where LinkedIn bios are curated to give the most flawless impression of our professional lives.
Research has shown that men and women react differently to failure, women are more likely to attribute failures to personal shortcomings or lack of ability. In our world, we tend to fixate on our failures or hide them away. But wouldn’t it be refreshing if we stripped back the carefully curated layers of our flawless personas, to reveal our vulnerabilities?
It was an idea worth exploring. So, for this year’s International Women’s Day, Wunderman Thompson women’s network RISE hosted a Four Walls event, a safe space for honest conversation and the second live event since IWD 2022. We were joined by three highly successful panellists who came together to discuss what failure had taught them.
Moderated by Account Director and RISE Co-Lead, Georgia Swanborough, our three panellists; Virginia Alvarez – Head of Insights and Effectiveness, Pip Hulbert – UK CEO, and Guy Sexty - Head of Art and Design, took to the stage on Wednesday to share their stories of redundancies, exam failures and career knockbacks. Here are the stories of some of WT’s leaders who have managed to take the hits with a mighty swoop of dignity.
