By BLR Founder and CEO Bob Brady
BLR’s CEO suggests that if you want to get ahead in HR, avoid gambles, but take risks!
As the CEO and owner of a small business, I get to observe the willingness of people to take risks. Some are natural risk-takers. Some will bet only on a sure thing.
Although I have no empirical evidence to back it up, it is my belief that the “failure rate” (in business, career, and personal) is not related to willingness to take risks. People who are willing to take risks do fail, but they then use the opportunity to learn from failure. They are subsequently able to climb higher because their skills get better and they know the terrain better.
Risk-taking is a lot less acceptable in some cultures and occupations than others. We don’t want our airline pilots or surgeons taking risks while we’re on board planes or under the knife. But even in those jobs, professionals learn by taking chances in acceptable circumstances (pilots in simulators and surgeons on cadavers and models).
Most of us as HR managers have more opportunity to take risks and learn from them than we realize, without risking public failure that could take our careers down in flames. How can we do it? By first realizing that…
“Risk” and “Gamble” Aren’t the Same
For one thing, “risk” doesn’t mean “gamble.” If you hear a great idea at a conference or read about it in HR Daily Advisor, and then put a lot of energy into doing it without any consultation with your boss, that’s a gamble. If you do some additional research, poll your peers, analyze the idea against your organization’s strategy, prepare a draft plan and budget, and then present it to your boss – that’s a “risk.”
The boss may think you’ve wasted your time, but more likely he or she will see that you are thinking and working. If the boss doesn’t approve this project, he or she will keep you in mind for the next one.
There’s a name for this kind of not succeeding. It’s called “failing forward.”
Fail in this way early and often in your career, and you may find it’s the surest way to success. It won’t be success on a Google scale (that’s reserved for the gamblers, and big timers at that), but who needs those guys’ billions anyway?
Share a comment on this column or e-mail Bob directly at RBrady@blr.com
.