Making Risk a Winning Strategy – Act like a Weight lifter - Follow-up blog
Recently, I started lifted weights again as I approach middle age. After being a tennis player with shoulder problems for over 25 years, I thought it is time to get strong! But as I am walking around with arnica rubbed all over my mildly aching muscles, I realize that this is just like learning how to make risk a winning strategy.
The first question after the Forte Webinar on December 5th was “Is risk inborn or can it be learned?” This is the same age old question that has been asked for generations – “Are leaders born or made?” The answer to both questions is the same - learning how to take smart risks can be learned. Yes some people like to take more risk than others but the key is to NOT focus on that aspect rather to focus on how you can get comfortable taking risks from wherever you are right now. It is like weight lifting – you have to start small and gradually increase the degree of challenge over time to avoid injury or being overly sore. Obviously, you can see that I still have something to learn.
My book Collaborative Competition™: A Woman’s Guide to Succeeding by Competing is based on the premise that one of women’s greatest competitive advantages is their ability to build collaborative relationships. Increasing your comfort with smart risk taking is a two step process:
1. Begin where you are – understand yourself regarding risk taking
2. Learn how to expand and use this valuable resource: building collaborative relationships
Steps 1 – What type of risk taker are you? A simple way of looking at risk was taught to me by a ski instructor named Meredith Blakeslee who wrote the book: The Yikes Zone. She described that there are two types of skiers: Robert and Jane. Robert is like the high challenge person that I described in the webinar – jumps right in, needs constant challenges, focuses on potential, and can be very hard on herself. In contrast, Jane is like the low challenge person I described as she will take risks that are within in her core abilities and will gradually extend her skills. Jane wants to present a positive face to the world and doesn’t want to fail or look bad. Depending on where you are on the Jane to Robert spectrum, you need to gauge your risk taking accordingly. The goal is NOT for Jane to become Roberts or vice versa. Rather the goal is to learn how to stretch within your own style. If you are wondering what I am? Yes I am a Jane. If you look at my approach to weight lifting, I have mildly aching muscles whereas Robert would be on Advil and walking with a slight limp.
Step 2 – Find people to encourage you to take smart risks. One woman asked the question, “How do you know when it is ok to ask for help or advice?” I discussed the pacing partner concept which is about expanding your capacity to form emotionally supportive and comfortable relationships. The idea is to take your comfortable female/male relationships to a broader approach, where it is possible to support others and to form strategic alliances around business issues. This enables us to compete, strive, challenge, and have fun, bringing out the best in ourselves and others. When I think about asking someone for help, I ask myself is this someone that I want to learn from? And, if I respect the person’s skills or talents, even if I don’t know them well, I would ask them for help on something specific. This is where women tend to not want to be vulnerable and yet part of being a successful leader is learning how to strategically ask for help and advice from the right people.
For example, I recently heard Ann Mulcahy, the former CEO of XEROX, speak about the XEROX turnaround and she stated that when she took over the company was owned by the banks and she had to convince the banks to refinance the loans and give the company more time to repay. And, she had won over all but two and was desperate to get the others on board. She needed help from someone powerful. She went to Sandy Weill who was then head of Citigroup and explained the situation and within the hour the CFO from XEROX called her and said that the other two banks were on board! The key lesson is she reached out to a crucial person to ask for help and had a smart well organized request.
How to get started…I would encourage all of you to start playing with expanding your risk taking ability.
1. If you are a Jane-type of risk taker, smart small and engage in activities that you feel are safe from the point of view that they won’t hurt your career. Weightlifting is a good example. These activities could range from taking up a hobby you have always wanted to try, joining Toastmasters to get comfortable being a public speaker, or any other activities that seem a little bit uncomfortable and yet might be enjoyable. For example, I ran into one of my former coaching clients who said she was taking up golf and even though she was terrible at it, she was enjoying it and didn’t care if she wasn’t skilled.
2. If you are a Robert, ask a friend who is more like Jane to help you focus on what type of risks might help you get where you want to go. For example, one of my coaching clients decided to let go of pursuing her three outside hobbies and to just focus on getting her MBA as that was challenging and enjoyable to her and would help advance her career.
3. Identify a few key people in your organization/environment from which you would like to learn from and reach out and ask them for an informal meeting such as lunch or coffee. Ask them to teach you something, ask for advice…..then notice what happens to the relationship. View it like weight lifting – you need to gradually up the weight – first watch for a response – if it is positive - continue, if it is not – then you can try again (usually practice the rule of three) but you may want to move on to someone else who is energized by your requests and desire to form a collaborative competitive partnership!
Start the new year out with a bang! Purchase my book Collaborative Competition™: A Woman’s Guide to Succeeding by Competing at Amazon.com and go to chapter two on career risk taking and chapter three on the pacing partners... And try out the exercises, get a friend to join, and enjoy!
The first question after the Forte Webinar on December 5th was “Is risk inborn or can it be learned?” This is the same age old question that has been asked for generations – “Are leaders born or made?” The answer to both questions is the same - learning how to take smart risks can be learned. Yes some people like to take more risk than others but the key is to NOT focus on that aspect rather to focus on how you can get comfortable taking risks from wherever you are right now. It is like weight lifting – you have to start small and gradually increase the degree of challenge over time to avoid injury or being overly sore. Obviously, you can see that I still have something to learn.
My book Collaborative Competition™: A Woman’s Guide to Succeeding by Competing is based on the premise that one of women’s greatest competitive advantages is their ability to build collaborative relationships. Increasing your comfort with smart risk taking is a two step process:
1. Begin where you are – understand yourself regarding risk taking
2. Learn how to expand and use this valuable resource: building collaborative relationships
Steps 1 – What type of risk taker are you? A simple way of looking at risk was taught to me by a ski instructor named Meredith Blakeslee who wrote the book: The Yikes Zone. She described that there are two types of skiers: Robert and Jane. Robert is like the high challenge person that I described in the webinar – jumps right in, needs constant challenges, focuses on potential, and can be very hard on herself. In contrast, Jane is like the low challenge person I described as she will take risks that are within in her core abilities and will gradually extend her skills. Jane wants to present a positive face to the world and doesn’t want to fail or look bad. Depending on where you are on the Jane to Robert spectrum, you need to gauge your risk taking accordingly. The goal is NOT for Jane to become Roberts or vice versa. Rather the goal is to learn how to stretch within your own style. If you are wondering what I am? Yes I am a Jane. If you look at my approach to weight lifting, I have mildly aching muscles whereas Robert would be on Advil and walking with a slight limp.
Step 2 – Find people to encourage you to take smart risks. One woman asked the question, “How do you know when it is ok to ask for help or advice?” I discussed the pacing partner concept which is about expanding your capacity to form emotionally supportive and comfortable relationships. The idea is to take your comfortable female/male relationships to a broader approach, where it is possible to support others and to form strategic alliances around business issues. This enables us to compete, strive, challenge, and have fun, bringing out the best in ourselves and others. When I think about asking someone for help, I ask myself is this someone that I want to learn from? And, if I respect the person’s skills or talents, even if I don’t know them well, I would ask them for help on something specific. This is where women tend to not want to be vulnerable and yet part of being a successful leader is learning how to strategically ask for help and advice from the right people.
For example, I recently heard Ann Mulcahy, the former CEO of XEROX, speak about the XEROX turnaround and she stated that when she took over the company was owned by the banks and she had to convince the banks to refinance the loans and give the company more time to repay. And, she had won over all but two and was desperate to get the others on board. She needed help from someone powerful. She went to Sandy Weill who was then head of Citigroup and explained the situation and within the hour the CFO from XEROX called her and said that the other two banks were on board! The key lesson is she reached out to a crucial person to ask for help and had a smart well organized request.
How to get started…I would encourage all of you to start playing with expanding your risk taking ability.
1. If you are a Jane-type of risk taker, smart small and engage in activities that you feel are safe from the point of view that they won’t hurt your career. Weightlifting is a good example. These activities could range from taking up a hobby you have always wanted to try, joining Toastmasters to get comfortable being a public speaker, or any other activities that seem a little bit uncomfortable and yet might be enjoyable. For example, I ran into one of my former coaching clients who said she was taking up golf and even though she was terrible at it, she was enjoying it and didn’t care if she wasn’t skilled.
2. If you are a Robert, ask a friend who is more like Jane to help you focus on what type of risks might help you get where you want to go. For example, one of my coaching clients decided to let go of pursuing her three outside hobbies and to just focus on getting her MBA as that was challenging and enjoyable to her and would help advance her career.
3. Identify a few key people in your organization/environment from which you would like to learn from and reach out and ask them for an informal meeting such as lunch or coffee. Ask them to teach you something, ask for advice…..then notice what happens to the relationship. View it like weight lifting – you need to gradually up the weight – first watch for a response – if it is positive - continue, if it is not – then you can try again (usually practice the rule of three) but you may want to move on to someone else who is energized by your requests and desire to form a collaborative competitive partnership!
Start the new year out with a bang! Purchase my book Collaborative Competition™: A Woman’s Guide to Succeeding by Competing at Amazon.com and go to chapter two on career risk taking and chapter three on the pacing partners... And try out the exercises, get a friend to join, and enjoy!
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