If you ask any executive to list the top five moments their career took a leap forward — not just a step, but a leap — failure is always on the list. For some it was the loss of a job. For others it was a project gone horribly wrong. And for others still it was the failure of a much larger system, like an economic downturn, that required them to step up.

Yet most of us spend a tremendous effort trying to avoid even the possibility of failure.   Most of us will try to avoid failure at all costs because failure is proof of our limitations. So we develop a fixed mindset - solving the same problems over and over again. It reinforces our own sense of competence. Children with fixed mindsets would rather redo an easy jigsaw puzzle than try a harder one. Students with fixed mindsets would rather not learn new languages. CEOs with fixed mindsets will surround themselves with people who agree with them. They feel smart when they get it right.   

But if you believe your talent grows with persistence and effort, then you seek failure as an opportunity to improve. Entrepreneurial leaders with a growth mindset feel smart when they're learning, not when they're flawless. In essence this is what out Saltire Fellowships are all about - trying new things beyond out current abilities.

Michael Jordan, arguably the world's best basketball player, has a growth mindset. Most successful people do. In high school he was cut from the basketball team but that obviously didn't discourage him: "I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career, I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

If you have a growth mindset, then use your failures to improve. If you have a fixed mindset, you may never fail, but neither do you or indeed your companies learn or grow.

In business, we have to be discriminating about when we choose to challenge ourselves. In high risk, high leverage situations, it's better to stay within your current capability. In lower risk situations, where the consequences of failure are less, better to push the envelope. The important point is to know that pushing the envelope, that failing, is how you learn and grow and succeed. It's your opportunity. 

A growth mindset is the secret to maximizing potential. Want to grow your staff? Give them tasks above their ability. They don't think they could do it? Tell them you expect them to work at it for a while, struggle with it. That it will take more time than the tasks they're used to doing. That you expect they'll make some mistakes along the way. But you know they could do it.

Want to increase your own performance? Set high goals where you have a 50-70% chance of success. According to Psychologist and Harvard researcher the late David McClelland, that's the sweet spot for high achievers. Then, when you fail half the time, figure out what you should do differently and try again. That's practice. And according to recent studies, 10,000 hours of that kind of practice will make you an expert in anything. No matter where you start.

Hey, I'm still learning  - but if you truly want to grow an international company of scale - embrace the fact you might just fail and push the envelope a little.  

The results might just surprise you...