President Abraham Lincoln had a hardscrabble beginning in life, but Harvard Business School professor and historian Nancy Koehn says he was determined to succeed, so even though he had little formal schooling, he became a lifelong learner, teaching himself everything from geometry to the law, a habit leaders should emulate. "[W]hen you don't know something, and you believe it's critical to your mission or critical to the next place you need to reach on your journey, you can teach yourself those things," Koehn says.

Put it into practice: Lincoln also knew that when his anger flared, he should not immediately express it, Koehn says. She relates a story where Lincoln wrote an angry letter to George Meade, the commander of the Army of the Potomac, chiding him for not pursuing General Robert E. Lee's army, which Lincoln thought would end the Civil War. That letter, Koehn notes, was found unsent in a drawer after Lincoln's death.

Leaders can help their direct reports reach their full potential by coaching them, helping them turn mistakes into lessons and being clear about their tasks and performance standards, writes executive coach John Baldoni. "Managers must assess each employee's capabilities and limitations. Some team members must be kept on a short leash, while leaders can give others more autonomy," Baldoni writes.

Put it into practice: Use a debriefing exercise when a team member makes a mistake to help them turn it around as a lesson by asking, "What will you do the next time?" Baldoni recommends. "The answer will determine a readiness to continue learning."

When delivering constructive criticism to team members, adopt a "mentor mindset," says psychologist David Yeager, who recommends telling them you want to give them some direct advice, but before doing so, you want to know their thoughts on what went well and what they can improve. "Not only does this make your employee a partner in the critique, but it starts to provide them with an internal dialogue they can have with themselves in the future so that they can begin to improve their own performance," Yeager says.

Put it into practice: Approaching constructive criticism as a chance to collaborate on improving performance shows your team members you care about their progress and will support them, Yeager says. "It also communicates clearly that you have high expectations but that you believe that they can meet those expectations in the future."

Carol Burnett's role in "Palm Royale" on Apple TV required the actress to improvise gibberish lines for a significant part of her screen time -- a first for the 91-year-old actress whose 70-year career has included comic and musical performances on television, film and Broadway stages. "At this stage in my life, I just want to do stuff that I think is going to be fun," says Burnett, who has earned seven Emmy Awards, a Grammy Award and a Tony Award.

The sea of foam fingers forming a "number one" seen at sporting events had a humble beginning -- invented in 1971 by Steve Chmelar, an Iowa high school student who fashioned a finger out of paper mache and hardware cloth for the basketball team's state championship game. A photo of the finger prompted Texas high school teacher Geral Fauss to do the same six years later, and Fauss eventually founded Spirit Hand Novelties, Inc., which, at its peak in 1982, was pumping out 5,000 hands a day.

The news director at my second radio job had a unique way of delivering his critiques of my budding news writing skills. He'd shove my freshly typed story back across the desk and say, "This sucks. Rewrite it."

It wasn't the kind of collaborative constructive criticism that psychologist David Yeager recommends. I was still incredibly green (this being my first reporting job and all), so I didn't know exactly what questions to ask to get more constructive feedback. So I did what President Abraham Lincoln did -- I sought out more resources on news writing and reporting and learned a lot on my own.

That's not to say my news director was a terrible teacher. He wasn't. He just believed in the idea of tossing someone into the pool and letting them sink or swim. I learned how to swim quickly. I missed a few strokes, but I'm grateful for his faith in me that I would figure it out. I went on to achieve what most journalists are aiming for -- a job at a major news network.

As John Baldoni observes, we learn from making mistakes. "[A]nd unless a manager gives an employee the space to learn -- often by trial and error -- little will be gained. The employees will fail to grow because they cannot make and execute decisions accordingly."

Only some employees will rise to the challenge. But when they do, you know you've inspired them to pursue their success.

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