Yesterday I found myself in two conversations regarding business plans for the year.
In both cases we found ourselves talking about risk with relationship to time. The issue was how much time should be devoted to large deals that have a low likelihood of actually happening. What I found interesting is the differences of opinions as to how each person viewed time and risk.
What is your criteria for measuring risk and how does it line up with time?
My feeling is we don’t take enough risk, because our world and in particular our education system teaches us to minimize risk. From birth we’ve had engrained in our mind that risk is something to avoid. What makes this interesting is if we look at the “value builders” of this era — Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Jeffrey Bezos, etc. — we find they love risk. Each one of them would never have achieved what they did without running toward risk rather than away from it.
Are you leveraging risk to your advantage?
Being average is simply not an option. Risk begins with being confident in our own mind. If we fail to believe in ourselves, how can we ever expect anyone else to believe in what we want to accomplish?
The more we believe, the less we view the task at hand as being risky. It’s why two people can look at the same thing, with one thinking there’s a high risk and the other believing there’s no risk.
If we want to increase our tolerance of risk it starts with first increasing our own level of confidence. I can sum it up very simply. The more confident you are, the more risk you’ll be willing to embrace.
Copyright 2017, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Selling: Win the Sale Without Compromising on Price and High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results.
