Normalising a risk-taking culture — Purposeful Leadership

Photo by Michał Parzuchowski on Unsplash

Having worked in the public sector for the last five years, I must say the majority of people I have worked with care deeply about how their work impacts the wider communities and lives. Personally, it was also one of the reasons I enjoyed working in the public sector.

Although with good intentions, sometimes this also translates to people being overly cautious and being risk averse considering what’s at stake. Afterall, no organisation wants to be on the front page news. Generally speaking, public sector organisations have more at stake here, but a positive risk taking culture can benefit any organisation.

Thinking about risks, we immediately become cautious. Just think about some of the definitions of risk:

oxford dictionary (via google) — a situation involving exposure to danger
wikipedia — possibility of something bad happening

origin mid 17th century: from French risque (noun), risquer (verb), from Italian risco ‘danger’ and rischiare ‘run into danger’ (via google).

This associates anything to do with risk a bad thing. But, how about risks worth taking and smart risks? I believe, if we could define what they are, it would provide some comfort and guidance towards what’s a good risk.

In leadership, taking a risk is encouraged. I remember a couple of years ago at work, when we were having a chat about risks. A colleague of mine saying “the biggest risk is not taking any risks”. Which I now know is so true.

As leaders, the biggest thing is to navigate the unchartered territories to accomplish a set goal or a vision that people are willing to follow. Almost always, the path to that vision is built through taking risks.

“Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.”
- T.S. Elliot

So what are some of smart risks worth taking? Risks that:

• Serves the organisation’s mission or a greater purpose
• Are small, fast and cheap — Not long, slow and expensive
• Challenge the status quo — With the intent to achieve positive outcomes for the organisation and the people they serve
• Are well communicated — who’s context, benefits and rationale are communicated far and wide along with it’s all possible outcomes, impacts and probability
• Allows the organisation to grow and learn

Personally, for example, I have come to the realisation that the risk’s worth taking are the ones that scare me the most, and will result in the best learnings and emotional growth.

Why should we take smart risks?

• There are risks associated with doing nothing — Sometimes the cost of inaction is greater than the risk itself. Which in itself could lead to potential financial, social and reputational impacts.
• It’s intentional — Luck isn’t a random thing, it sometimes is a consequence of introducing an element of risk into the decision
• It’s contagious — When you see people stepping out of their comfort zone to achieve something great, its feels more comfortable doing the same
• It’s being human, evolutionary and enhances our ability to learn and grow — Consider early childhood, risk taking (risky play) is a natural and inherent part of play as children seek to experience new sensations and experiment to test their limits. The same applies for organisations, by allowing them to learn and test what works and doesn’t

So, What might it take for leaders to normalise a risk-taking culture?

• Through leaders demonstrating they are truly serious about it — Model the behavior, with leading by example. Reward best attempts at smart risk taking.
• Challenge the status quo — Making it known that risk taking is okay, even if it’s through making public statements that support purposeful risk taking, while being there to protect people by having their back when things do fail
• Embrace failures and successes — Harvesting learnings from success and failures to scale other parts of the organisation. So people see the value in it.
• Don’t force it — Risk-taking is a behaviour that can be learnt, but there will always be people who wouldn’t want to take risks, and that is normal.

Finally, I believe as citizens and part of the community, for organisations that are transparent and practice smart risk taking, the social license to operate. Which, maybe a topic on it’s own, but for another time…..