How Failure Made Her a Better Engineer | Sairan Aqrawi

When Sairan Aqrawi decided to become a swimming coach as a teenager in Iraq, she discovered something critical about leadership: passion alone isn't enough. You need skills, responsibility, and the willingness to take action. That early lesson would carry her through 30 years of engineering across the Middle East and United States, where she learned that failure isn't the end—it's where real growth begins.

Sairan shares why she tells young engineers that no one will die from their mistakes, using this extreme framing to help them understand that taking risks is essential for growth. Discover why she believes the jobs you hate teach you the most, how aging actually made failure easier to handle, and why the most important question isn't whether you'll fail but what you'll learn when you do.
Learn why Sairan refuses to respond immediately to harsh emails, understanding that pausing and replying professionally instead of reacting emotionally often means the problem resolves itself by noon. She reveals the critical difference between competence and confidence—you can't fake confidence, but when you're truly competent, your body language naturally communicates it without you having to perform.

Sairan breaks down why having an impressive LinkedIn profile full of certifications means nothing if you can't communicate effectively in meetings, how she learned to be curious about her team members instead of assuming she knows everything, and why being a role model as a leader is exactly like parenting—your actions speak louder than your words.

From working on multi-billion dollar transportation projects with Homeland Security and Boeing to mentoring the next generation of women in STEM, Sairan explains why innovation keeps you young, how taking scary risks in your 30s transforms you into a better version of yourself, and why the first time she spoke on stage about women's empowerment she literally forgot her name and started thinking about dinner.

Discover why engineers who only know one discipline won't thrive in today's world, how Western engineering practices have evolved to require T-shaped knowledge, and why your degree is just a plus—not the pathway to success. Sairan reveals her three-step framework for becoming an effective leader, born from 35 years of experience across small companies, big corporations, county government, and international projects.
Whether you're a young engineer afraid to take risks, a midlife professional looking to reignite your career, or a leader trying to build psychological safety on your team, this conversation offers hard-won wisdom from someone who's failed, learned, and succeeded across two continents and three decades.
Connect with Sairan Aqrawi:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sairan-aqrawi-m-sc-993bb61a3/
Website: https://www.sairanaqrawi.com/
Download Sairan's free three-step checklist to becoming an effective leader—created from 35 years of engineering experience in the Middle East and United States.  https://pro.speakerhub.com/speaker-feedback/?qr=db5082b4-078d-41ee-b934-c4a961e8413c

Subscribe for more conversations with leaders who understand that action breeds confidence, not the other way around. Share this with engineers who need permission to fail, learn, and grow into the leaders they're meant to become.

I hope you enjoy this episode! Give it a like, share, and subscribe to not miss the content coming your way weekly. – Bill and the 40 % Better podcast team

Connect with Bill on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wblennan/ 
Visit the 40 Percent Better website here: https://40pb.com/

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