There is no right way to take a risk, contends Bette Price,
co-author of True Leaders: How Exceptional CEOs and
Presidents Make a Difference by Building People and Profits
(Dearborn Trade Press). "Entrepreneurs are risk-prone in a
variety of styles. Some will plunge forward into risk, and some
will tip-toe into it cautiously. Neither approach is right or
wrong." But if you tip-toe at a glacier's speed, you could
be missing out on a great opportunity, acknowledges Price.
If you're still nervous about jumping off that proverbial
cliff, you could always practice first in a way that won't
necessarily affect your business. Kamfar did, when he was a
21-year-old spending a year in England between college and graduate
school. He went fire-walking.
| Feel like keeping your socks and
shoes on? Then forego the fire-walking and instead sign up for
flight training to better your business
skills. |
|
"One of the first things you had to do was sign a waiver
acknowledging that you understood you might catch on fire and burn
off a limb or die," says Kamfar, who describes walking on hot
coals as "very liberating."
Content Continues Below
But you should never fire-walk-or take a giant risk when your
company is at stake-if you're truly frightened. "If
you're afraid to take a risk, that fear is trying to tell you
something," says Kamfar.
That's because risk-taking is indeed something of an art
form, and it requires practice. And the more successful you become,
the more complicated it gets to take a risk. "Here's what
I've lost, and it bugs me," says McFarlane. "When we
were small and confined, I could self-indulge more. Now I have to
put on the 'Todd, the CEO' hat and ask if what 'Todd,
the artist,' likes is prudent for the well-being of the
company? Sometimes, the answer is no."
That may be something that gives you pause. Take an unnecessary
chance, and your company could end up the size of a continent.
Next, you'll be trying to decide how to market a comic book
called Creech 2: Out for Blood, and you may lie awake at night,
wondering what sort of lighting you should put on your $2.7 million
baseball.
But isn't it worth the risk?
Every day, as a freelance journalist in Loveland, Ohio, Geoff
Williams is risking his life in a world of danger and intrigue.
Why, just last week, he dropped a stapler on his foot. "This
office is a deathtrap," he says.
Contact Source
- New World Coffee-Manhattan Bagel Inc.
(732) 544-0155,
www.nwcb.com
Page
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 | 5