The Importance of Taking Risks
If you want to be a great leader you have to realize the importance of taking some risks. This doesn’t mean being reckless but it does mean that you have to be prepared and open to calculated risk taking.
As a leader, it is absolutely no use being “risk averse.” It won’t get you anywhere. It can actually hinder your progression.
Some people just don’t progress in their careers because they are never prepared to take the giant leap, or even the little leap, to “go for” meaningful results: results that could only be achieved by taking a significant risk.
If you are only ever prepared to “play it safe” then you have to be prepared to stay where you are. If you are content with the “status quo” then that is where you will stay. Be careful what you wish for! Such people want to play it safe and always avoid risk. It’s almost as though they can’t stop themselves from just doing what they have always done in the way that they have always done it. They tend to use phrases like “This is the way it’s always been done” or “This is the way it was when I was in the lower ranks.” They play it safe because they are totally constrained by their own knowledge experience and existing know-how Such people are trying to preserve what they already have whereas, people who take risks are trying to create what they do not have but want to have.
Acceptance that failure sometimes happens is one of the key ingredients to success. The reality is that you have to take risks if you want to put yourself in a position to win.
In the words of the former Formula One racing car driver, Mario Andretti,
“If everything seems under control, you are not going fast enough.”
So if you are a team leader, think about your answers to the following questions.
Are you comfortable?
Is everything fully under control?
How do you feel about taking risks?
How do members of your team feel about taking risks?
Are you doing anything to develop your propensity or that of your team members for taking risk?
