Getting Your Bold On

Are You a Gambler or a Calculated Risk-Taker?

There’s a fine line between taking a calculated risk and being a reckless gambler – and you can win or lose big, either way. However, in today’s business world, it is necessary to take risks in order to remain competitive and ahead of the game.

How do you do it so you don’t lose your shirt?

Whether you are an executive, business owner, or other professional, risk-taking is a key factor in your ability to lead yourself and others into the future. It affects your direction, decision-making, choices, and actions. It is the difference between becoming a Vera Wang or Elon Musk – or a Jane Doe or Joe Blow.

Can you become a calculated risk-taker – and win?

Deborah Perry Piscione, author of Risk Factor, says yes. Piscione, a member of former congressional and White House staff, as well as a media commentator for several key news channels, now supports some of the greatest risk-takers in Silicon Valley where technology history is made. She and some of her colleagues have conducted research that reveals the “DNA” of bold risk-takers, and they have discovered several key attributes – all of which can be cultivated.

These traits include such things as refusing to accept the status quo, being in touch with a much greater purpose in life, valuing talented people and understanding how and when to collaborate with them, and being able to effectively execute an innovative idea or direct others as they do it.

Indeed, in my coaching practice, I’ve observed 5 ways accomplished risk-takers differentiate themselves from gamblers:

But at the foundation of all of this is to have a lower level of fear than most people, or even an absence of fear. Because it is fear that keeps us from considering those decisions and actions that are outside of the box, and that will take our business and career from safe and small to extraordinary.

So we tell ourselves that people must just be born with a risk-taking quotient, and that it doesn’t run in our family. This is our excuse for removing ourselves from the equation. We then step back into our ordinary space, playing it safe and small, while others take the leaps and celebrate the rewards.

However, risk-taking isn’t a genetic trait – it’s acquired. You can, at any age, acquire the tools, skills, and knowledge to become a calculated risk-taker, and learn to avoid the pitfalls of those encountered by the reckless gambler.

So it’s back to confronting and overcoming the fear, because the approach to risk-taking can be learned. I’ll be writing about a specific method I use with clients to do this in my next article.

But meanwhile, what fear is holding you back from getting what you want?  And how do you move past it? Join us on LinkedIn to share, and for more discussion.

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Patti Cotton helps women executives optimize their effectiveness in leading self, others, and enterprises. Her areas of focus include confidence, leadership style, executive presence, effective communication, and masterful execution. With over 25 years of leadership experience, both stateside and abroad, Patti works with individuals, teams, and organizations across industries, providing executive coaching, women’s leadership development, change, and conflict management. She is also a Fortune 500 speaker. For more information on how Patti Cotton can help you and your organization, click here.