How to Train Your Business Leaders to Take Risks
To drive your company forward, break the pattern of risk avoidance by immersing your leaders in high-risk situations.
Thursday, July 7, 2016, 1:41 Pm
BY
NY DAILY NEWS CONTRIBUTOR
In the volatile and ever-changing environment in which businesses find themselves today, it is more important than ever to ensure your leaders take calculated risks.
This helps your organization to avoid falling behind your competitors and keeps your company on the cutting edge. Some leaders are natural risk takers, but others are not.
At one progressive company, General Insulation (GIC), CEO Frank Granara partnered with me to come up with ways to push leaders beyond their limits in an effort to show them that risk taking can reap rewards.
Our most recent joint venture had potential leaders from GIC taking off into the Colorado wilderness, literally "back to the basics," to learn to survive without the comforts of home.
Imagine camping in a tent with two of your co-workers, making fire with a bow drill and tinder, subsisting on a paleo diet while hiking with a 40-pound backpack through the ice and snow to a peak in the Rocky Mountains above 12,000 feet.
Now add in no communication with the outside world for a week. No Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat; no cameras and no recorders.
Literally, what happened in the mountains, stayed in the mountains, allowing people to be themselves without worries about ending up on social media — how refreshing.
Risks abound. Individuals must learn to rely upon themselves and their co-workers in a spirit of unparalleled trust. Leaders, tethered together along with their guide, realize that one misstep could bring the whole team down.
This is not a Disney-like adventure. There are risks around every corner. Along a hike through rough and slippery terrain, obstacles and hazards lie in wait ready to trip the unobservant.
Above all, exhaustion, brought on by fatigue due to altitude sickness, creates an emotional vulnerability. Leaders who would normally not risk opening up their innermost fears and thoughts become talkative. This creates a bond between the individuals like none other.
At the end of the tough six-day trek, sunburned, tired, raw and stretched way outside of their comfort zone, these leaders discovered that by pushing their limits and taking risks, they found a new inner strength that will serve them well in their business life.
As success coach T. Harv Eker said, "How you do anything is how you do everything." The art of risk taking can be taught. To break the pattern of risk avoidance, immerse your leaders in high-risk situations and let them experience success. They will no longer avoid risk, but embrace it and meet it head on driving your company forward.
Lorraine Grubbs is an author, speaker and business consultant helping companies create "Happy Workplaces". Learn more about her work at www.lorrainegrubbs.com
