Risk Conversion
I think back to jobs I’ve had, some of which I took for immediate reasons, such as to solve financial concerns. It was a risk — not knowing if I could focus on something for the initial gain, when it wasn’t clear whether or not it would satisfy longer-term objectives. I’ve taken start up positions just to get into a tough market where I didn’t have any connections. It was a risk to take a cut in pay for such a job, hoping it would ultimately lead to the work I really wanted. Over my coaching career, there were about five different partnership projects supposed to offer more financial benefit, credibility and leadership challenges. These didn’t pan out, as the partners invested less energy or money in our growing endeavor. All these career opportunities didn’t last too long before I figured out they were dead ends, fortunately. But how else could I have known the outcome? There are no guarantees that even the “best laid plans” will unfold as expected.
As an entrepreneur, there will always be a level of risk to success. Even as a corporate professional, you risk your reputation on certain choices that may not be perceived well by others, end in a promotion, or lead to the big win you were counting on.
Dive Bomber film So it’s no good to try to avoid risks. You have to do your best to take well-calculated ones. Sometimes job choices have to be based on financial need, but hopefully you will save and bank enough at those times not to extend your time there too long, or return to those circumstances often. You learn through planning, but also through experience, to alter your course for more rewarding work and find a better fit for who you are and what you can offer.
I think of this as risk conversion, rather than risk aversion. When in a tight spot, I imagine those times I turned the corner on ideas I feared taking action on and choices that made me struggle a little or think hard in weighing them. Those times always renewed my faith in my ability to meet the next challenge.
What’s your risk conversion like, or do you have an aversion to risk-taking?
