Risk taking leaders analyzed

I had some feedback last week regarding my rundown on the qualities of great leaders. One item that I was asked to expand on was the risk taking elements of these individuals.

They are the people at the top who make the tough decisions and are usually not concerned with what others think unless they are the Board of Directors.

Good leaders are results drivers and the status quo is not usually part of their vocabulary.

Very few great leaders will simply run the machine that they inherited.

Typically these characteristics of risk taking are shown in great leaders:

1.

Good leaders will often create a risk taking culture.

They encourage teams to take risks as long as ample due diligence has been conducted, and that there is a post analysis process in place where employees are able to learn from the results and any mistakes.

2.

Great leaders prepare for risky plays.

Contingency planning is ingrained in strong leaders and they often map out all possible outcomes for any one action.

They will continually benchmark progress versus projections in order to manage company resources effectively and mitigate risk for all major initiatives.

Plan B and Plan C often go into effect when certain benchmarks are not met.

3.

Good leaders understand the future today. They already have a clear view of the future as being today's reality, and they have a firm grip on what the company needs to do now in order to position themselves as market leaders moving forward.

They feel as though they are already living in the reality of the future so certain risks will seem to have less uncertainty to them.

4.

Great leaders consistently prioritize risks and payback scenarios.

Like a good card player, they will often over invest during some hands and will balance that by underinvesting on other hands.

In a sense they are strategic with their spend and tend to listen to their "gut" better than other people.

Farewell,

Mike