I had a surprising feedback call
with an HR director. He had decided not to withhold a candidate due to the fact
that he did not believe he would have the ability to take risks. Of all the
reasons why a client may decide not to continue a selection process with a
candidate, this was a new one. Could it be true that the ability to take risk
is a quality that can determine success?
When I started researching I
immediately ended up with hundreds, if not thousands, of articles that have
been written about how risk taking is linked to the willingness to fail.
Managers are often thought to tolerate mistakes to foster a learning
organization.
I believe that that is turning
things the other way around. If risk-taking is immediately linked to making
mistaking and learning from them, we are focusing on the negative. After all,
who likes to fail? The concept of failure immediately entails the idea of embarrassment
and the loss of esteem and stature.
When we look at today’s top
business leaders, it is not their mistakes that we remember. It is their
willingness to make bold moves, their courage to take tough decisions.
Is it an inborn characteristic or
is it a skill that they have acquired throughout the years and improved with
practice?
I believe that it is the latter. People who become good leaders may have a
greater than average willingness to make risky moves, but they strengthen their
chances of success—and avoid career suicide—through careful deliberation and preparation.
And that is exactly where the key
to success lies. The skill to make intelligent decisions between risk and
irresponsibility combined with careful preparation and forethought will to a
large degree determine the level of achievement that you will attain.
Not all risks are equal. You can
close your eyes and jump but without looking where you are going, you are
merely rolling the dice in a casino. The most intelligent risks are those where
the potential downside is limited and fixed, but the potential upside is wide.
Those are the risks you should jump to take. Making that choice comes with
practice, with talking to others as a sounding board.
Ensuring that your choice becomes a
success requires careful planning, clear objectives, the ability to look ahead
and possibly a contingency plan. That way you can minimize risk and maximize
the odds that you'll succeed.
Many people do what you do and so
the only way you are going to stand out from the crowd, is by leaving the well
established, proven paths. That means taking risks. Consequently, having
the ability to choose and manage risks by going through the process of
calculating the risks, taking your chances, but also learning from your
mistakes is how leaders are made and a key determining factor for your success.
So, go out there and find an
intelligent risk you can take today. Maybe it won’t work out. But what if
it does? Celebrate either way because no matter what the outcome, you’ll
gain courage just by making the attempt.
I look forward to talking to you
Isabel
Through a personalized and
tailor-made approach, Ingenium Executive Search aspires to assist you in
attracting the right talent that matches the DNA of your company
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