Risk-takers surpass "reliable" workers
What sets you apart: Taking risks, high performance, and building relationships
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Success boils down to high performance, building relationships, and risk-taking. Hard work alone is not sufficient.
As a VP, I constantly see risk-takers surpass “reliable” workers.
Here’s why:
Everyone is educated, and everyone works hard.
As an executive, I can always find another person with a great education, good skills, and the drive to work long hours. Those things alone do not set you apart!
What sets you apart is the mix I mention above: Taking risks, high performance, and building relationships. This combination isn't linear, but the pieces lead into one another.
Here is how it works:
1) You take risks because:
→ Risks create opportunities for high performance
→ Risks carry the potential for remarkable results
→ Risks get noticed
2) High performance fits in like this:
→ High performance is what you do to earn the right to take a risk
→ High performance is what you do to try to make that big bet pay off
→ High performance is how you re-earn your credibility if something goes wrong
3) Along the way, you build relationships because:
→ Leaders take chances on those they trust
→ Leaders give second chances to those they know
→ Leaders promote those who deliver remarkable results
You can also think of it like this:
Good, effective, hard work is the base of your pyramid → Relationships are built on top of competence → Strong relationships support disruptive innovation.
Merely being "reliable" is like the career version of the "friend zone”.
You'll be respected, valued, and kept around, but you will never stand out enough to be chosen.
Build the base to take a big risk and then TAKE IT.
That’s how you will move up.
See section 3 in this post on how you can learn to invent.
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Ethan -- 100% agree on risk taking. Sometimes cultures don't encourage this. As a former Amazonian, I know this is encouraged there. Great post!
Great points all around, I especially agree with using high performance and relationships as a recovery plan for when risks go bad.
In my previous job I had 11 years of reputation and relationships. This allowed me to take risks, most of which failed. But because of my standing I was able to write a failure blog about each risk and why it failed. The idea was to change the culture towards taking more risks and allowing someone else to pick up a failed project and complete it.