As demonstrated through the experiences of executive administrators who lost their jobs, higher education leaders experience pain when they fail. Leaders at any stage of their life and career can process the pain of failure in constructive ways using a recovery formula built on a "half-life of pain" concept. The time it takes for a person to recover from failure will vary based on their beliefs about the agency, nature, optics, and consequences of their failure. Although not always severe, failure is inevitable. Being equipped with tools to navigate the associated pain can help leaders turn failure into learning experiences