I was asked to speak at an International Women’s Day (IWD) event at Women in Nuclear - Golden Horseshoe West back in March. I was one of three speakers and each of us were asked to talk a little bit about our background and then talk about the three key features we felt made a good leader.

When talking about our own careers one common theme emerged. We had all taken a risk in our career that had helped us get to where we were today. I’m not a risk-taker by nature. Nine years ago I took what was probably the biggest risk in my career. I left a career as a Law Clerk, which I had successfully done for twenty years and took a temporary clerical job at Bruce Power. I started at Bruce Power on reception. I must admit the first couple of weeks were nice - a stress free job that ended at 4 p.m. every day with nothing to think about post workday. Thankfully, supervisors quickly realized my skill-set was not being utilized and I was moved to a project that provided me access to senior leaders, which led to an assistant position in Corporate Communications. From there I decided to return to university on a part-time basis and I completed a Public Relations program, which led me to my current position with Women in Nuclear. I look back on that risk as the best decision I ever made, as that risk, along with a lot of hard work really paid off.

So what role does risk actually play in your career success? Steve Pavlina wrote an article, Intelligent Risk Taking. He starts off the article with - “Risk taking is an integral part of business and life, but so few people know how to manage it properly.” He explains that the word risk has a negative connotation to it and therefore people avoid it. But he also talks about the positive side of risk. He suggests “the most intelligent risks are those where the potential downside is limited, but the potential upside is virtually unlimited.” He says “the key to intelligent risk-taking is to look far enough ahead” and linking risk to your personal growth.

The last nine years of my career have been all about taking risks - leaving a comfortable career, going back to school, taking on responsibilities way outside my personal comfort zone - but they have also been the most rewarding. When I allowed myself to leave short-term thinking and my extreme fear of risk taking behind, I’ve been able to accomplish so much more in my life than I personally ever thought possible. Good mentors along the way helped me recognize my own talents and pushed me to use skill sets I never even realized I had.

A young woman after the IWD event came up to me and asked if I had ever taken a risk that didn’t work out. She was struggling with risk demons in her own career and was obviously afraid of failure. I admitted that yes sometimes things don’t work out the way we plan, but we always learn something along the way that helps us manage the risk better in our next journey. We can’t always be successful, but making intelligent risks where the potential downside is limited, but the potential upside is virtually unlimited, as Steve Pavlina says provides a platform for success. Add in a lot of hard work along the way and you may find that the risk was well worth it in the end.

Robert F. Kennedy was quoted as saying, “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”

I’m not suggesting you take the plunge skydiving this weekend, but hopefully I’ve encouraged you to look at risk a little differently.

Has taking a risk worked for you in your career? Share your story with WiNfluence readers by leaving a comment.