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© 2026 Copyright, Jennifer R. Farmer

The PR Whisperer

Author, Crisis Communications Expert, Strategic Communications Advisor

Tag: failure

Good Intentions Are Not a Defense

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When you hear about a scandal or controversy involving a prominent leader or celebrity, what is the first thing that comes to mind? After shock, maybe it’s disappointment. You may have looked up to the person and feel let down by their mistake. However, I hope at some point you settle in on an acknowledgement that anyone can make a mistake. To be clear, I am not referencing criminal wrongdoing that involves the victimization of others. I am talking about ethical challenges that can upend a person’s life and career.

This explains why the wise implement guardrails and safety nets that offer a degree of protection. Here are three reasons why guardrails are so important.

Good intentions are not a defense.

Most people don’t wake up and decide to throw their lives away. Instead they compromise, cut corners, and gradually lower their standards. Before a person realizes it, they’ve made a catastrophic mistake. If you ask some of the people who have made life-altering errors, about their mindset, many will tell you that they had the best of intentions. However, good intentions will not protect you. Systems can offer protection. This is key because we are not inherently virtuous. Even the best of us is subject to fail. When we do fail, we should quickly acknowledge and make amends for our shortcomings.

Each of us needs guardrails to protect ourselves and others.

If we operate from the premise that anyone can make a mistake, the question becomes, what guardrails can be implemented to protect yourself. Guardrails can be people, policies or practices. For instance, one guardrail might be ensuring there are people in your life who have the authority to hold you accountable. Other guardrails might include external review over major decisions. To implement guardrails, we must think carefully about areas in our life that must be carefully managed. Awareness is the first step; acting on what we know is the next. If we are honest about who we are, where we struggle, and what we need, we will be one step closer to protecting ourselves and others.

There is no such thing as a perfect leader.

At the end of the day, we are all human. Everyone is navigating one struggle or another; even those who appear polished, poised and perfect. If we view people as people and not gods, we will be less apt to bestow virtues on others which they have not earned. We may also protect ourselves from falling victim to the latest scam or scheme. In other words, we shouldn’t look for the perfect leader; that person doesn’t exist.

Jennifer R. Farmer, aka The PR Whisperer®, is an author, lecturer and strategic communications expert. Check out our blog posts and subscribe for updates. 

Be The Person Who Refuses to Quit

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How do you handle failure?

By Jennifer R. Farmer

What should you do when you make a mistake and your mistake is public.

One of the biggest public relations faux pas that people make is being unable to forgive themselves and to keep going. For people who strive to do the right thing, failure is can be a tremendous set back. But maintaining a strong brand, is about finding a way to keep going and to be consistent.

Now, it is certainly important to acknowledge your mistake, to apologize and to make amends. In some instances, it is also important to step away, discover how you got off track, and heal so that you can move forward. The goal has to be rectifying the current issue so you can resume your life’s work and calling.

However, in some instances, we can become so immobilized by our failure that we shutdown…completely. I’m not certain we should do that.

Be the person who refuses to quit. Take time away from the spotlight to heal, grow, repair harms, etc. But then get back in the game and keep going. Understand that all of us fail, some of us just have our mistakes publicized.

Additionally, when I think about the people who have accomplished great things in the world, they have all experienced a degree of failure. And the bigger their reach or platform, they greater the potential they have to make a mistake. Please remember that no one accomplishes great things without an internal commitment to keep trying, indeed to keep going. No one achieves success without a few bumps and bruises.

The question becomes what has this situation come to reveal or teach. Once you know the answer, work on absorbing the lesson. Then vow to get back in the game and to keep going.

You simply cannot stop a person who refuses to give up. Be that person.

You Can Get Through This: Tips for Navigating Tough Times

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By Jennifer R. Farmer  

What do you do when you face hard times? How do you keep pursuing your goals when there’s so much pushing back on you and encouraging you to give up?

I believe the key to navigating tough times includes faith, determination and a willingness to reach out and ask for help. Faith creates a center, outside of ourselves, that we can tap into and draw hope. Faith is not only believing that things will get better; it is also cultivating a spiritual practice that enables us to put our hope in someone bigger than ourselves. When I face tough times, it helps that I believe that there is a God who is looking out for me, indeed concerned with the details of my life. Deepening my faith includes praying, reading the Bible, connecting with people who are similarly aligned and bathing myself in the promises that God has made to me.

In addition to faith, I believe that we can also navigate tough times by reaching out for help. No one walks alone, and no one can get through life alone. But so many times, when we experience hard times, we are reluctant to ask for help. That could come from pride or trauma. Pride says, “I don’t want anyone to know that I’m struggling.” Trauma could look like being penalized and judged for asking for help in the past and therefore vowing not to ask for help again. Neither pride nor trauma responses can help move through tough times. We must be willing to reach out and ask for help. We may hear “no,” and we may brush up against other people’s limitations, but that shouldn’t dissuade us from reaching out.

The other thing we must do to overcome tough times is to be determined to survive, indeed thrive. Determine that come hell or high waters, you will make it. You do not need to initially know how; you simply must cultivate the determination to come out on the other side. Set the intention: “I will get through this.”

I’ll be the first to admit that we must develop this type of determination. We must distance ourselves from negativity – our negative thoughts and the negative thoughts of others.

Finally, we can move through tough times by gaining proper perspective. Proper perspective looks like understanding that there are seasons in life. In some seasons, we face certain challenges that limit our capacity or cause us to question ourselves. In other seasons, we enjoy moments of ease. A proper perspective recognizes that your season has nothing to do with your worth as a person. It is fleeting.

This Is Life

The thing about life we must remember is that problems are guaranteed. No one gets through this life unscathed. What is more – prior hard times are not inoculation from future pain. We may face trial after trial, and in between there will be moments of joy and peace. Difficult as it is, we cannot become undone by the existence of pain. We must process and grieve even as we determine to move through it.

The extent to which we can tap into something higher than ourselves, cultivate determination and ask for help is the extent to which we can navigate and survive life’s challenges. Believe this. Know this.

 

 

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