Jane Fonda and other actresses posted their failures on LinkedIn as part of a L'Oreal Paris ad ... [+] campaign. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)
Perfectionism and the fear of failure disproportionately impact women, but navigating failure can pave the way to career success. L'Oréal Paris's latest ad campaign spotlights the setbacks experienced by celebrity women to encourage others to see failure not as an obstacle but as a necessary step to advancement.
As part of L’Oréal Paris’ "Worth It Resumé" campaign, actresses Eva Longoria, Andie MacDowell, Helen Mirren, Jane Fonda, and Aja Naomi King shared their struggles, setbacks and failures on their LinkedIn resumés today. The goal was to remove the stigma of failure to inspire others to persevere through setbacks and learn from them.
Andie MacDowell opened up about her initial film role, where she encountered an unexpected setback: her voice in her first prominent movie role was dubbed over without her prior knowledge. Academy Award winner Helen Mirren remembers her theatrical debut being critically described as “the weakest link in an otherwise great production.”
Actresses Eva Longoria and Aja Naomi King write about the sting of rejection. Longoria says she was turned down for more than 100 roles because she was “either too Latina or not Latina enough.” King described one TV role she felt was hers, “I was convinced this part was mine. And it wasn't. At the time, it really challenged my belief in myself as well as my ability to handle this career path. I needed to learn there is no finite number of obstacles or opportunities.”
Jane Fonda learned the cost of underplaying her ambition after a setback in her early twenties. Seeking a leading role on Broadway, the director asked if Fonda was ambitious. Her automatic response was "No!!!" "The minute that word 'No' came out of my mouth, I knew I'd never get the part," she writes. This incident helped Fonda learn to acknowledge her ambition proudly.
Failure experts assert that, as these actresses discovered, learning from setbacks is crucial for advancement. In her book, The Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well, organizational psychologist Amy Edmonson explains, “Most of us fail to learn the valuable lessons failures can offer. We put off the hard work of reflecting on what we did wrong. Sometimes, we’re reluctant to admit that we failed in the first place. We’re embarrassed by our failures and quick to spot those of others. We deny, gloss over, and quickly move on from—or blame circumstances and other people for—things that go wrong.”
Edmonson highlights that you can play chess for ten hours a day, but unless you analyze why you lost, you’ll never master the game. This principle is mirrored in sports, with athletes scrutinizing their strikeouts or pinpointing the missteps in a triple axel to enhance their performance. The athletes even review videos of their failures to gain valuable insights.
Organizations also understand the importance of acknowledging failure. Astro Teller, Captain of Moonshots at Google’s GOOG innovation company, X, gives failure bonuses to employees who admit a project isn’t working. “We work hard at X to make it safe to fail,” Teller says in a TED talk. “Teams kill their ideas as soon as the evidence [of failure] is on the table because they’re rewarded for it,” he explains.
However, when individuals fear failure instead of embracing it, it can keep them from taking on challenging tasks. Edmonson describes this as the difference between “playing to win” and “playing not to lose.” Playing to win, she writes, refers to “a willingness to take risks in pursuit of challenging goals and satisfying relationships.” Playing not to lose, which most of us do most of the time, she says, results in “avoiding situations where failure was possible…settling for activities, jobs, or relationships where you feel in control.”
Women are particularly at risk for fearing failure. One KPMG survey found that 81% of executive women report that they put more pressure on themselves not to fail than men do. Another study of engineering students found that female students reported a significantly higher fear of failure than their male counterparts. This may be because women must meet higher standards than men to be deemed competent.
Ironically, the ad campaign embracing professional failures is backed by a company known for its cosmetics that help women conceal their physical imperfections. However, the organization doesn’t see it that way. “Make-up isn't about covering up your flaws, it's about becoming who you want to be,” says Delphine Vigiuer, L’Oreal Paris’ global brand president. She adds, “As a brand, L’Oréal Paris has always been dedicated to breaking down barriers that prevent women from asserting and recognizing their self-worth.”


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