Management guru Peter Drucker once said “People who don’t take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year. People who do take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year.” The lesson here?
You are going to make mistakes whether you take chances or not. However, if you don’t take risks, you will miss opportunities to innovate and excel. You are better off to take a few more risks, try a few more things and take a few more actions, even if the risk of failure is higher.
That is the crux of innovative leadership. You must take some risks in order to reach greater results.
Beyond that you need to also be encouraging your employees to take risks as well and to ensure that your actions aren’t stifling creativity and innovation. Ask yourself:
- Do I encourage my employees to take risks? How?
- Do I let them know that I also take calculated risks?
- Am I accepting of failure or do I react negatively (e.g., raising my voice or doling out reprimands/punishments) when employees fall short of expectations?
- How specifically did I react the last time an employee made a mistake? What were the circumstances? Was that my typical reaction to mistakes?
- Am I preventing risk-taking on my team by shooting down ideas too quickly or establishing too many boundaries or rules?
If you go off the deep end every time an employee messes up or an ideal fails, your employees will hide their mistakes, which can lead to costly and time-consuming problems. Worse, they may stop taking risks and sharing ideas. That kills productivity and morale and can lead to missed opportunities.
If you want to innovate (and you must innovate to keep up with your competitors), stop condemning out-of-the-box thinking, accept failure as part of growth and development, and be willing to take risks if the payoff is worth it.
0 comments