My first leadership role was an abject failure. I had no idea what to do. My only development came from personal experience as an employee. I treated my first team member as I perceived current and previous leaders had treated me. Starting on her first day, I made mistakes from which I would never recover. My relationship with that team member and other colleagues was irreparably damaged. I wish I could say that my first leadership experience taught me how to lead. It did not. Instead, it piqued my curiosity. However, I did not explore my curiosity until years later. What went wrong? What should I have done differently? In truth, I was just a bad leader.