What if the biggest risk to your board right now is playing it too safe? Instead of guarding against disruption, are you missing the chance to potentially be a disruptor who opens new opportunities?
Take Risk is the second principle inside Take Six, and it builds directly on the first.
Before a board can assess risk, it needs an honest picture of where the organization stands today and where it needs to go. That is the work of Take Stock, the first principle, and it is what makes Take Risk possible.
Most boards spend a lot of time thinking about risk mitigation. In fact many boards even form Risk Management Committees and executive teams include Chief Risk Officers. They operate in mostly preventative mode. The concern arises when boards get so good at risk prevention that they lose the ability to examine risk for opportunities.
Risk is a muscle, and it requires practice. Boards that take small, deliberate risks are ready when significant opportunities present. What is your boardโs risk tolerance level and is it static or capable of evolving?
When boards understand the stakes, they can chart the path forward. A calculated risk means the opportunity has been examined and the assumptions have been pressure-tested.
Stagnation carries its own risk, and it often goes unexamined. Diverse perspectives help boards catch blind spots before they become costly missteps, but diverse perspectives will also see what might otherwise go overlooked.
When I authored ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐น: ๐๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ฃ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐๐ฐ ๐๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐บ, ๐๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐๐ฏ๐ฅย ๐๐ฏ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ด, I did so intending to offer a career strategies guide.
It was exciting to witness my first book sell out its first print run and become an Amazon best seller in strategic management within four months of its debut.
Now, Iโm looking forward to exploring those lessons through a board governance lens and helping leaders apply them with greater intention and impact.
Originally posted in LinkedIn.com
