How to Take Calculated Business Risks to Advance Your Career

How to Take Calculated Business Risks to Advance Yur Career Some people find it energizing to take risks, but for others, the very thought of uncertainty can provoke serious panic. Our relationships with risk can play important roles in our careers. If, for example, a risk-averse executive ends up working in an industry thatrequires risk, that can be a recipe for career and personal disaster. Thats why it makes sense for us to understand our own ability to handle uncertainty and then seek out roles that matchwith our own comfort levels. That being said,if we stay within our comfort zones all the time and totally avoid risk,we may be limiting our careers. Why? Because the higher you climb upthe corporate ladder, the mora uncertain your careerenvironment will become and the more youll be required to take calculated risks and make difficult business decisions. Moreover, if you want a career as a free lancer or an entrepreneur, youll need to be very comfortable taking calculated risks often with your own moneyIn truth, its becoming harder for anyone to wholly avoid risk. We live in an increasingly VUCA(volatile, unpredictable, complex, and ambiguous) world, and the average person, let alone business professional, is required to take more risks than ever.In todays climate, the ability to take smart, calculatedrisks is a must-have skill for any ambitious worker. With that in mind,I offer some tipson how you can take such risks to advance your career1. Accept That Risk Is Normal and Step Out of YourComfort ZoneThroughout our childhoods, adolescences, and early adulthoods, most of us are protected from uncertainty. Our parents, teachers, and even managers make a lot of important decisions for us up until were in our early 20s. The result is that we are lulled into thinking the world is a much more certain distributions-mix than it really is.If, however, you reallywant to excel in th e world, you need to become comfortable withcalculated risks and skilled at making complex decisions. We need to step out of our comfort zones and be prepared to embrace risk and thrive in the face of uncertainty. If you cant do this, you may find yourself stuck at the entry level or just above it for most, if not all, of your career.2. Learn How to Make Complex DecisionsIn the business world, youll oftenface complex challenges where there are no obvious right or wrong answers and no one around to tell you what to do. Many people find suchuncertainty crippling, butothers find it manageable and even energizing.Those who handle uncertainty well are those who have developed the skills they need to make complex decisions.If you want to survive and thrive in a VUCA world, youll need to cultivatean almostinstinctive decision-making process that you can call on in times of need.An excellent way to make complex decisions is to use a decision matrix. To do this, you simply take a spreadshe et and placeall the potential options on one axis. Then, you place all the factors that relate to each option on the other axis. You thenscore each factor individually, and eventually each option will have a total viability score, revealing the best option for you to take.A decision matrixis only one of many strategies you can use to find your way through uncertain scenarios. There are plenty of othersystems as well, such as theT-Chart, and thePareto Analysis.Choose the one that best suitsyour particular situation.3. Learn From Your MistakesYou should always be looking to improve your decision-making process, and one of the best ways to do this is to reflect on both your successes and your failures. Try tounderstand what made your successful decisions successful, and then replicate those successes as best you can in the future.At the same time, be sure to reflecton any shortcomings that led tobad decisions. Perhaps you were too hasty, or you didnt do enough research, or you failed t o consult experts. Whatever the case, take note of your mistakes, and then be sure to avoid those mistakes in the future.A mentor can also help you learn from your mistakes. They canhelp you see things you wouldnt have noticed on your own, and their third-party perspective can help you iron out the kinks in your decision-making process.No matter how risk-averse you may be, our VUCA world has made it so that none of us can totally avoid uncertainty or danger in our personal lives or our careers. Given this state of affairs, its in everyones best interest to learn to become a better risk-taker. And once you have become an expert on taking calculated risks and navigate complex challenges, you may be surprised to see just how much your career advances.