Career-making, Risk-taking 

By Barb Springer Beck

Vol. 24 No. 3,  2003-04

   Are you a risk-taker?  I’d argue that you are whether you believe it or not.  Why? Because although the risks are at varying levels of magnitude, daily living is full of risks of all sorts for almost everyone.  Driving your car or riding a bicycle to work, hiking a trail  in inclement weather or along a steep drop-off, flying to a destination, or even staying out too long in the hot sun are all situations that pose risks.  Yet, you navigate this world of risks constantly and usually without much conscious deliberation.

So, just what is risk?  Risk means to incur the possibility of danger, to take a serious chance.  But risk also means the possibility of great reward.  Putting a person on the moon would not have been possible without taking the risk of blasting off into the unknown for the first time.      

There are many different types of risks we may be exposed to.  There are physical risks—rock climbing, sky diving, driving too fast for conditions, skiing out of area boundaries, or work-

ing as a firefighter or law enforcement officer.  There are financial risks—deciding whether to invest in stocks, bonds, or mutual funds; whether to purchase long-term care insurance;  how much debt to incur in the purchase of real estate, or other assets.  There are medical risks—failing to schedule recommended exams and check-ups; smoking or overeating; choosing or not choosing to have surgeries; and selecting and following the advice of certain doctors.  And, last but not least, there are career risks—applying for and accepting a new position; quitting your present job or employer; taking a special assignment; making a high-profile presentation; or retiring.  Despite the fact that these risks are highly varied, they have one thing in common: the possibility of negative consequences from the selected course of action.

There are also different levels of risk.  Michael Bane, a frequent speaker on the subject of risk, uses white water rafting to illustrate the concept of risk.

  According to Bane, “The level of risk corresponds directly to the increased consequence of failure.  Fall out of a raft in a class I river, and you get wet.  Fall out of a raft in class V water, and you die.”   Of course what he didn’t say was that if you stay in the boat through the class V rapids, you have the experience of a lifetime!  Obviously some risks merit more careful con-sideration than others; you’d want to give strong, careful consideration to taking a risk with very serious possible consequences.  Let’s look at some things you can think about as you con-sider taking a specific risk. 

1)    You need to determine how real the risk actually is.  You can do this by examining your perceptions and their origins, and then seeking outside validation. 

Maybe you’ve always believed that buying a used car is risky because that’s what you heard from your father.  If buying a new car is neither possible nor desirable, check the statistics, talk to friends who’ve purchased used vehicles, and find out about used cars that come with full new-car warranties.  In this example, you can probably identify how much of the risk is simply the result of your perception and increase your comfort level with a decision to buy a used car.

As an example of career risks, Nancy decided she needed to give her boss some feedback that she knew he wouldn’t appreciate, at least at first.  She also knew that this boss had a history of retaliation against sub-ordinates he considered disloyal.  Although this seemed a huge risk to Nancy and made her terribly nervous, she felt she had no choice.  Nancy thought long and hard about how exactly to phrase her feedback in the least threatening way and then brought it up when she got the chance.  Her supervisor reacted defensively as she had anticipated, but later came to value the risk she had taken with him for the good of the entire management team.  Even though Nancy’s relationship with her supervisor was never completely comfortable after that, she came to believe her choice to raise the issue had been the right one. 

2)    Determine exactly what is within your control.  There is no sense in anguishing over factors that are out of your control.  

Joan lives in Boston and was scheduled to make a presentation at a Society of American Foresters Conference in Seattle.  Days before her departure, the Department of Homeland Security raised the national threat level to orange based upon unspecified intelligence information.  In light of this information, Joan was faced with the decision about whether or not to attend the conference.  In the end she decided to go to Seattle, and made the trip without incident.  Her decision was based on the fact that she had no control over whether a terrorist attack would be carried out and Joan reasoned that the chances of her being involved in one were slim.   Joan also considered the fact that she had no children when making her decision. 

3)    Weigh the potential adverse consequences of taking an action or not taking a particular action.  Weigh the potential benefits.   

When confronted with a tough decision, Shelley makes a point of asking herself, “What’s the worst that can happen?”  She then bases her de-cision on the odds of that worst case scenario coming to pass and her ability to survive it if it does.  Based upon the past performance of the stock market over the long term, Shelley, a 35-year-old range conservationist, decided to put all of her government retirement account into a stock fund, under-standing that she was at risk for losing most, if not all, of the money.  Shelley also understood that she faced another risk by not trying to beat the inflation rate over time so that her retirement savings would be enough to support herself comfortably, something she believed she would not accomplish with a bond fund.  On balance she decided that the potential benefits outweighed the risks. 

4)    Ask yourself, “What is the scope of the potential con-sequences?” and, “Who else might be affected?”  

Some risks involve possible consequences only for ourselves.  Most career risks would fall into this category.  Taking other risks may involve potential affects to a broader circle of people, including our families, friends, and coworkers.  When you are considering whether to take a particular risk, you need to ask yourself about the affects not only to yourself, but also to others before deciding if that risk is worthwhile.  Danni worked hard as a firefighter for many seasons, hoping to qualify to become a smokejumper.  When Danni married Dave, she made her goal clear to him.  Danni eventually got offered a position in the smokejumper program.  She realized that if something happened to her Dave would be affected, but it was important to her, and he supported her decision to take the risk, so she accepted the position and went to work. 

On the flip side, Geri served on an incident management team that responded not only to wildland fires, but also all-risk incidents such as hurricanes, oil spills, threats from con-tagious disease, and special situations like recovering debris from the space shuttle disaster.  Despite the fact that Geri had served on the team for several years and enjoyed the challenges, she decided that as a single parent, putting herself in harm’s way was incompatible with ensuring the welfare of her children.  As a result, Geri made the tough decision to resign from the team.   

Perception and tolerance of risk are both situational and quite individual.  For example, when Mary, a well-respected biologist was asked to make a presentation about her grizzly bear project at a conference with 300 attendees, she de-clined.  Given her relative lack of public speaking experience, standing in front of that many people simply felt too risky for Mary, yet ironically her work in grizzly bear country brought frequent exposure to a mammal that could easily kill her.  Mary was willing to take constant physical risk, but not risk looking unprofessional in front of her peers. 

In the end, you are the only one who can decide for yourself.  Use careful consideration to decide which risks are acceptable for you.  Look at how real the risk is, what is within your control, what the odds are of a worst case scenario coming true, your ability to survive that worst case, and finally, ask yourself “What do I stand to gain?”  Remember, even though choosing the less risky course might be more comfortable, it isn’t always the best course.