Personal faults of great achievers

Are the personal failings of great achievers generally unimportant compared to the individual achievements?

Not always does a cloud have a silver lining. Great achievers and successful people often have personal failings which hold varied degrees of importance in their professional and public lives despite their individual achievements and successes. Some people reach the epic of professional and individual achievements but their personal failings hold them back and present an alternate view to their success and achievements. The people who idolize their success and achievement often are the ones who are most shaken by the personal failings of these great achievers.

A reason for the personal failings of successful and great achievers can be attributed to them being over obsessive with their individual and personal goals. They often live two lives, one which has given them success and achievement and the other which is very personal and not in public domain. Often they may succumb to personal failings in their personal lives. A big example of this is the drug abuse by many great achievers in the music and film industry. Another example is the domestic violence by many great achievers. I feel it is their personal self esteem which they want to satisfy when they succumb to personal failings.

Personal failings of great achievers are important for another reason. This makes us believe that we all are humans and prone to mistakes and failings. Success and achievement in an area does not guarantee similar success and achievement in other field. These achievers may feel they are above the scope of any failings and mistakes which makes them overconfident and thus even more prone to mistakes and failings. A recent case of sexual assault by a head of a world financial institution with a hotel waitress highlights the point that even though successful and great achievers may have had their way in their professional and individual lives they cannot be given the same leeway when they fall or succumb to mistakes and errors.

Though some people may opine that great achievers add a lot of value because of excellence in their area of expertise and thus their personal fallings can be ignored, I feel they are humans and their success in one field should not form the basis for ignoring their fallings in other fields.

In the end, it can be concluded that although great achievers like Gandhi and Washington did have some personal falling and errors they were certainty accepted their these fallings with grace and accepted them. Great achievers would be even greater if they acknowledge and self correct their personal failings and mistakes.