Although it may seem to be counterintuitive to those stepping up the leadership ladder, your managers want you to take more risks. That’s right—risks. In the past eighteen years, I’ve yet to meet with a senior executive who’s said, “Gee, I wish my talent would play it safe and keep things status quo.”
            What kind of risk are they talking about? And why do they encourage their people to take more of them? The word ‘risk’ usually implies exposure to danger and the possibility that something unwelcome or unsafe is imminent. The concerns about risk in corporate America revolve around managers wanting their talent not so much to step away from safe decisions, but to move toward innovative thinking.

These leaders are cultivating their talent’s willingness and courage to drill down deep within themselves to access the confidence it takes to think differently: This next generation of leaders must trust themselves enough to take risks. These managers are successful themselves, so it’s likely they hired you because of your unique skill set and they want you to use it.

The willingness to take risks is particularly critical during tough economic times. There is a cultural tendency to want to play it safe when times are uncertain. However, if we examine historical precedent, we’ll find that it was those who threw the dice in an exciting and new direction who were most successful at making the changes that the times demanded.
            What makes employees reluctant to take risks at work? In a word: FEAR.
Fear that:

1. You’re not smart enough
2. You’re not educated enough
3. You’ll look stupid
4. You’ll be wrong
5. You can’t trust your gut instincts
6. Things will change. You hate change.
7. You                                                     fill in the blank

These things don’t have to be real; they just have to be perceived that way. To be sure, there is nothing that will prevent or halt forward movement (and, therefore, risk-taking behavior) quicker than the prospect of your ego getting bruised or annihilated in the process.

What does a great manager want you to do?

• Trust yourself
• Have confidence in who you are and what you do
• Follow your gut instincts
• Don’t rely on “It’s always been done that way”
• Be willing to be wrong
• Think uniquely
• Take the initiative

Next time you’re facing a situation that requires you to step out of your safety zone, ask yourself these questions:

1. Is the risk perceived or real?  Do the facts or evidence overwhelmingly stack against your position, or are you simply afraid of the unknown?
2. Are you taking this risk to prove who you are (your ego) or to demonstrate it?
   Are you taking a bold stand because you know, in your bones, that this is the right course, or are you trying to prove that you’re smart and competent?
3. Is the timing right? Sometimes your idea with be simply brilliant: Just not now.
4. What is the best possible outcome of taking this risk? In an ideal world, what’s the outcome? What are the wins?
5. What’s the worst possible outcome? Think disaster: Do you have a back-up plan? Will anything be beyond repair?
6. If you ‘failed,’ how would you recover? This is called Plan B. Have you fully prepared a plan for the possibility that you might not be able to go back to the way things were before you took this risk?
7. If you ’failed’ what might you be able to learn? You’ve failed before. You will fail again. What wisdom have you gleaned from this event? If you got a “do over” what, if anything, would you do differently?

So what’s the risk of not taking risks? When you don’t take risks things stay the same, and same is NOT necessarily why you were recruited. Same may mean no new opportunities. Same may mean little growth. Same may mean the project never gets launched. Same may mean you’re passed over for that promotion. Same may mean you end up feeling under utilized or devalued. Save one letter, same and safe are spelled, well, the same.