This article also appeared in Finweek Magazine in their 26-Sep-2013 issue

Singer Eddie Cantor once said: “It takes 20 years to become an overnight success”.  Behind every seemingly instant success, are years of slog work, learning, experimenting, and many failures along the journey. What differentiates great business people, however, is their very unique view on failure. Unlike most ordinary individuals, they are not afraid to fail. They see failure as a necessary part of the path to success, and an opportunity to learn and grow and do things differently.

So if success is a long and winding road of trial and error and iteration, are there any lessons we can learn along the way from successful leadership icons who’ve been there? Finweek asked South African business icons Alan Knott-Craig Sr., Kumaran Padayachee and Tony Leon what they regretted most about their careers, and what they have learnt or done differently as  a result.
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