What Are You Willing to Risk?

Leadership inherently involves a certain amount of risk.  There’s the risk involved in putting forth an idea, in challenging the status quo (if that’s what you’re up to), in inviting others to follow, in taking a stance — these are all leadership actions and they all require risk to a certain degree.  The amount of risk you’re willing to engage in impacts the degree of success you’ll achieve.

When a problem arises — when you’re faced with a challenge — it behooves you to ask how much risk you’re willing to take on.  More importantly, what exactly are you willing to risk?  Are you willing to risk looking foolish?  Are  you willing to risk feeling someone’s anger?  Are you willing to risk being wrong?  Are you willing to risk losing a friendship, or a follower?  Knowing what you’re willing to risk allows you to push the boundaries in order to achieve a specific outcome.

Similarly, knowing what you’re NOT willing to risk allows you to know when to pull back.  When you are clear about your limit in terms of risk, you become clear on the actions you will and will not take and why you pull back when you do.  This knowledge allows you to make your choices with no regrets.  You may experience some frustration if you reach the limit of your risk-zone and change isn’t happening to your liking; and, at that point, you get to re-evaluate what you’re willing to risk and determine how much more energy you’re willing to expend for the cause, whatever it might be.

As a leader, whatever it is you’re striving to create, change or bring about in the world is made easier when you know what you’re willing to risk.   So hold the question as you navigate your leadership and give it a voice.  Know your risk-zone, know how much energy you’re willing to expend, re-evaluate from time to time, and make your choices accordingly.

Bottom-line:  when you know what you’re willing to risk, you can confidently make choices to bring your leadership vision to reality.

Stop, Back Up, Get It Right

Ever play a game of solitaire? Yes, I’m talking about the computer card game.  I’ve got to tell you, it’s one of my favourites.  Sometimes, playing a game of solitaire clears the cobwebs from my brain even better than a cup of tea in the afternoon.  Seriously.  And, admittedly, sometimes it’s just a bit of a distraction.  I can usually tell the difference, however, and choose appropriately when and when not to play a hand or two.

Anyhow, the last time I was playing, it seemed that there were no more moves for me to make, and therefore no possible options that would allow me to win the game.  Looking closer, however, it occurred to me that I could backtrack a bit.  I could pull down some cards that I had put up, thereby creating some options to shift things around and open up new card faces.  And, I could possibly win as a result.  Now, when I pull cards down that have already been put up, I lose points.  So really, I’m taking a risk every time I do this action, because I don’t know what I’m going to be able to turn up in the next round.  In other words, the choice to back up might not serve.  But I won’t know, unless I try.

I guess what I’m realizing is this.  Too often, there’s a way in which we tell ourselves that once a move is made — regardless of the context –  it can’t be corrected.  And while there may in fact be a point of no return, so to speak, often that point is a lot further along the path than we realize.  And until you reach that point, you actually can stop, back up and correct your course of action.  Granted, you’re taking a risk.  You might not be able to correct it the way you want to correct it.  And, you just might.  You won’t know, however, unless you take that risk.

Bottom-line:  wherever you’re at on your path — the path of today’s work, the path of your life’s work, or something in between, when you feel like you’ve made a mistake, you’ve likely got the option to back up and get things right.  You’ve just got to be willing to take the risk, rather than moving blindly forward until you reach the definitive point of no return.  Keep your eyes open, correct as you go and sooner or later you’ll get it right.  It’s a certainty.

Time to Bite the Bullet

“We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal, and then leap in the dark to our success.”  ~Henry David Thoreau

For the past few weeks — heck, it’s probably been closer to a month — I’ve been playing with an idea.  I think it’s a pretty good idea, another path for moving forward to the creation of something good in the world.  If I’m going to be honest, I’ve had a couple of ideas that I’ve been playing with and exploring, but this one idea is the one that’s top-of-mind today.

As I’ve sat with the idea, I’ve looked at it’s merits and flaws from every possible angle.  I’ve shared my potential plans with one or two people I trust, seeking their perspective into how this might or might not serve the bigger picture.  My sense as I write this blog post this morning is that I’ve got answers to virtually every question I can possibly think of, and the few questions that remain can get answered as I move forward, however I choose to move forward.  And therein lies the kicker.

Using Thoreau’s quote above as a descriptor of where I’m at, my sense is that it’s time for me to leap.  I’ve been very conscious and deliberate up until this moment, and I think that’s a good thing.  I don’t believe that there’s anything I’m consciously overlooking — and I am aware that there are some things I don’t know.  These “unknowns” are what could hold me back from what otherwise seems like a good move.  And, I’ve decided that I’m not going to hold myself back.  I’m going to leap — and so I sent off an email to the person involved, to let her know that I’d like to move ahead.  The ball’s in her court now; I’ve made my leap.  (I promise I’ll let you in on the details of the leap once I hear what her decision is   ).

One of the things I know for sure is that when one wears the mantle of leadership, this sort of scenario — the scenario whereby one finds herself at the point of leaping, but still unsure of some answers — is all too common.  You see, you can’t always have all the answers, as much as you would like to.  And my sense is that this where you get to walk that fine line of knowing as much as you can, and then taking a chance.  That’s what leadership is all about.  Sometimes, you’ve got to leap into the unknown.  Due diligence is required — to a point.  Then you’ve got to take a risk.

Bottom-line: if you wait until you have all the answers, you’ll wait forever.  Because you cannot have all of the answers, I’m not even sure if you can have most of the answers.  I do know that you can have some of the answers.  And then you’ve just got to do what feels right, and adjust your course of action as necessary, when necessary, from thereon in.

Leader? Follower? Can You Be Both?

I woke up this morning with a question in my mind:  what’s the difference between a leader and a follower?  Which quickly led to another question:  can you be both a leader and a follower? For me, this blog provides a place for me to explore a bit and so, I’m going to see if I can’t sift through my thoughts to arrive at answers to these questions.

What’s the difference between a leader and a follower?  As I hold this question and mull it over, it strikes as pivotal in some respects.  What I know for sure is that being a leader is about so much more than holding a specific title.  You certainly might be a leader by virtue of the fact that you’re a CEO, founder, president, chairperson, etc;.  But the title’s not enough.  Leadership is about vision, it’s about risk-taking, it’s about showing up and standing up and playing the game even when others are dropping out.  Leaders are required to take a stand and invite others to stand alongside.  Leaders have to be willing to get it wrong, in order to get it right (whatever “it” might be).  In other words, a true leader cannot wait for the perfect idea at the perfect moment.  True leaders put themselves out there when things are less than perfect, knowing that as they move forward, step-by-step, perfection will be attained.

Followers, on the other hand, don’t need to hold a vision, they need only subscribe to another person’s vision.  Followers don’t need to risk taking the first step; instead they can follow in the footsteps of another.  Followers can pull out of the game for a bit, take a breath, and then dive back in when they’re ready.  All of this might make it sound like followers have got it far easier than leaders.  And I think that this is a bit of a misnomer.  Why?  Because as a follower, you’ve actually got to exercise a bit of gumption.  You’ve got to use your wits and ascertain whether the vision you’re subscribing to is subscription-worthy.  As a follower, your role is to lend support to your leaders, and so you’ve got to know what support is required of you in every moment.  You’ve got to be able to “read the play” so-to-speak.  The role of follower is no less difficult than the role of leader; it’s just different.

So, can someone be both a leader and a follower?  As I ask this question, a vision of flying geese comes to mind.  What I remember about geese flying in formation is that they absolutely always have a designated leader.  They also, however, have a system whereby, when the leader gets tired, the leader “steps back” and another goose takes the position of leader.  So now, the follower is the leader, and the leader follows for a bit.  In other words, while there is a definite leader and follower role to be held, when it comes right down to it which goose is the leader or follower isn’t nearly as important as all of the geese realizing that they’re on the same team, playing the same game, moving towards the same objective.

Bottom-line:  every team needs a leader, and every team needs followers to support the leader’s objectives.  More importantly, however, every team member — whether they are leader or follower — has to realize that the overriding fact is that they’re a team.  The entity of team trumps the individual roles — at least when the team is all on the same page.  So, leaders, followers, ask yourselves:  are you on the same page?  And if you’re not, how are you going to get there?

Lines are for Writing On, Not Reading Between

“Say What You Need to Say” — so says John Mayer in one of his recent hit songs.  And while one might argue that the song is somewhat repetitive, I can’t help but be mesmerized, nearly every time I hear it, but what seems like such a simple truth.  “Say what you need to say.”  The song takes it one step further and expounds that “it’s better to say too much, than never to say what you need to say.”

The reason I’m writing about this today is that I’ve been bombarded in the past several weeks by what feels like a plethora of people stopping short in saying what they want.  Sometimes, the fact that they’re holding back is obvious.  Other times, it’s barely noticeable.  And in either case, what’s true is that the “holding back” is preventing the relationship — be it business, personal, neighbourly or something else altogether — from being infused with trust.

Now, I’m as guilty as the next person of holding back at times.  And my sense is that sometimes, there are good and valid reasons for doing so.  Perhaps the person you’re in conversation with hasn’t proven themselves trustworthy.  Perhaps you aren’t yet clear on your stance around a particular issue.  Perhaps you’re honouring a sense that a particular bit of information is best kept private for the time being.  All of these reasons are fine, and in these cases, I think it’s fine to hold back.  The challenge, however, arises when you hold back, expect the other person to “read between the lines” and then hold that person accountable to your unspoken message.  This is not fair in any way, shape or form and, it doesn’t work.

Some people are quite good at reading between the lines.  But that being said, some people are quite good at disguising their message between the lines.  Leaving things unsaid is a surefire recipe for communication catastrophe.  In the context of leadership, I believe that this is even more true.  Powerful leadership requires powerful communication — and this means being as transparent as possible — which means you say what you mean, mean what you say, and do what you say you’re going to do (which I think is a Barbara Coloroso line) — at least to the best of your ability.

Will you make mistakes?  Sure.  Will you hold back from time to time?  I’m willing to place money on it.  And, I want to challenge you — particularly the leader in you — tol lay it all on the line as much as possible.  Risk getting your message wrong.  Risk hurting feelings and having yours hurt.  Trust yourself and your relationships to be strong enough to move through whatever mess gets created.  Why?  Because when you say what you need to say, everyone knows where you stand.  And they can powerfully choose where they stand in relation to you.

Bottom-line:  quit being cryptic.  Keep it simple.  Say what you need to say.

Big Gulp, Big Risk…Big Leap Forward

So, I did it.  For a number of weeks now I’ve been working on completing a survey of women leaders.  Actually, I’ve been working on it since early October, but then had to abort the mission for a little while when I got sick.  Once things got back on track, however, I kept moving along at a fairly steady pace, garnering participation from a wide array of women leaders, and noticing some interesting trends and issues for this demographic.

As I’ve entered into February, my goal is  to complete the survey in its entirety by month’s end.  Furthermore, I want to round out the survey by getting some higher-profile leaders to share their insights.  Why?  Because I want to be sure that my results do in fact pertain to the general pool of women leaders, rather than to a subset of women leaders (e.g., mompreneurs only, or committee chairs only).

So, this afternoon, I did it.  I took the big gulp, took what felt like a big risk (at least to me) and made one call that I’ve been putting off.  You see, I think speaking with Arlene Dickinson (one of the Dragon’s on the Canadian televisionn show, Dragon’s Den and CEO of Venture Communications) would give my survey some real “oomph.”  To me, she’s a pretty high profile leader, and to be able to pick her brain would be a privilege to say the least.  The risk for me lay not so much in picking up the phone, but in actually putting myself and my work in front of her, on the line so to speak.  I realize that if she doesn’t agree to participate, I could go to a lot of places with that.  In fact, my inner saboteurs could easily take me down the path of self-ridicule to the umpteenth degree.  That basic story is what stopped me for so long.

Having just made the call, however, I realized something afresh:  taking the big risk actually paves the way for me to move through an obstacle (or two or ten).  You see, now I can let go of the possible self-ridicule and choose something else.  Something more empowering and something that serves the bigger picture.  For example, I can choose to stand in the knowledge that nobody is off-limits to me — I can actually reach out and make requests of all sorts of people, regardless of what their answer might be.  I can choose to affirm over and over again that I am just one phone call away from talking to a “big wig” — which means that, really, I can consider myself a bigwig too (if I want).

Bottom-line:  sometimes, you’ve just got to take a big gulp, take the big risk and know that the result will be a big leap forward.  Trust me — the feeling’s exhilarating.