Using setbacks as the soil for comebacks

Resurrection Thinking: Using Setbacks as the Soil for Massive Comebacks

Some moments in leadership feel like death. Not metaphorically, but viscerally. The deal that collapses. The product that fails after years of work. The resignation you never saw coming. The revenue dip that threatens your team’s future. It’s the sharp stillness of a setback that leaves you questioning everything: your strategy, your capacity, your calling.

I’ve lived that stillness.

And over time, I’ve come to understand that those moments—however painful—hold more potential than we give them credit for. Not in the way motivational posters talk about failure as feedback, but in a much more grounded, honest, and necessary way. These are the leadership crucibles that reveal whether we’re building something truly resilient or simply reacting to short-term momentum.

That’s what I call resurrection thinking.

It’s the ability to reinterpret setbacks—not as punishment or failure—but as a powerful part of the leadership process. It’s the decision to see endings as beginnings. And more than that, it’s the maturity to pause long enough in the discomfort to learn something deeper before sprinting forward.

Coming out of Easter weekend, it’s impossible not to reflect on the symbolic weight this season carries. Across cultures and spiritual traditions, Easter represents rebirth. Renewal. A shift from silence to significance. And whether or not you’re someone who ties your business practice to spiritual markers, the metaphor stands strong: true breakthroughs follow breakdowns. But only if we’re willing to grow in the space in between.

I’ve seen this firsthand—not just in my own life, but in the businesses and leaders I coach. In those moments when everything seems to collapse, what often emerges is not just a pivot, but a deeper foundation. When the noise stops, we’re forced to listen more clearly. When the crowd thins, we rediscover our voice. When old strategies fall apart, something more honest can finally emerge.

Resurrection thinking asks a different set of questions than traditional crisis management. Not “How do we fix this?” but “What is this trying to teach us?” Not “How quickly can we move on?” but “What truth do we need to face before we rebuild?” It demands a slower, more courageous mindset. And it often separates those who lead with ego from those who lead with purpose.

One of the biggest lies leaders believe is that pain is a sign to stop. But growth almost never arrives dressed in comfort. That’s why the most impactful leaders I know are the ones who’ve learned to treat setbacks as sacred space. They don’t rush to fill the silence. They let it teach them. They don’t edit the lesson to fit the narrative—they stay with it until it’s real.

Academic studies back this up. A 2023 research paper published in MIT Sloan Management Review found that companies that used failure as a strategic reflection point—not just a loss to recover from—demonstrated a 31% increase in long-term adaptability and employee retention. Reflection wasn’t seen as weakness. It was a growth asset.

So much of modern leadership is obsessed with speed—faster launches, faster responses, faster feedback loops. But there’s a kind of strength that only comes from stillness. From being able to stand inside a tough season and say, “This won’t be the end of us. It may be the beginning of something better.”

That’s not blind optimism. It’s informed resilience.

Personally, some of my most transformative moments have followed what felt like failure. The programs that didn’t land. The clients I couldn’t serve the way I wanted. The seasons where I was physically limited, and had to find new ways to lead not just others—but myself. And in those moments, I’ve learned to trust the process more than my performance.

Resurrection thinking isn’t just about bouncing back. It’s about bouncing forward—with more clarity, more grit, and more perspective. It’s leadership that doesn’t hide its scars but integrates them. That doesn’t try to return to “how things were,” but leans fully into “what’s possible now.”

When a business hits a wall—whether it’s financial, cultural, or operational—the temptation is to push harder. To move faster. But the leaders who win long-term are the ones who know how to pause. To reflect. To reimagine.

And when they move again, they do so with a depth that wasn’t there before.

So if you find yourself in a setback, in a season where the road is unclear and the outcomes aren’t what you hoped for, don’t just look for the exit. Look for the invitation. Ask the questions you’ve been avoiding. Face the truths you’ve been postponing. And when the time is right—lead forward from that place.

Because what’s growing underneath the surface often holds more power than what’s visible above it.

And the comeback? It starts there.