Succeeding in business can often be directly tied to taking risks.
And there are few bigger markers of success than ascending to the corner office.
While executives overall take an average of 24 years to get from their first job to a CEO position, those who take big risks earlier in their careers typically nab the top spot in less time, according to the CEO Genome Project. The project – which assessed 17,000 C-suite executives, including more than 2,000 CEOs over a decade – found that it only took an average of 14 years for risk takers to become CEOs.
Their risks involved what the researchers called “career catapults,” such as stepping up to help manage a company in bankruptcy or taking over a business unit that’s performing poorly. They might involve taking a job they don’t feel quite ready for or leaving a good position to start their own venture. Or going to a smaller firm where one can be a bigger fish.
Those kinds of moves give executives opportunities to demonstrate their ability to solve difficult problems, launch new initiatives and make bold moves under pressure.
Women rising
Risk taking can be especially critical for women who aspire to be in the C-suite.
Based on its survey of 85 senior women executives, executive search firm Spencer Stuart identified a willingness to take risks as a key ingredient to moving up through the ranks. That’s especially true when a woman is presented with an opportunity for which she might not feel completely prepared.
“It’s well documented that women are more likely than men to think they need to meet all the qualifications for a position to apply for a role,” the search firm noted in its report. “[But] once they do make a leap into a new role, they are likely to learn that they are able to ‘figure it out’ and succeed. Take more risks, including pursuing [revenue-generating] P&L opportunities earlier. Understand that you don’t need to feel 100% ‘ready’ for the next move.”
Balancing risk with caution
After years of counseling senior executives, Anthony Abbatiello has seen firsthand how taking smart risks in one’s career can help fast-track candidates. But those risk takers who eventually succeed as CEOs are usually also skilled at exercising caution, he said.
“We know great C-suite leaders have ‘span.’ When you’re working at the top you actually have to span across tensions, such as risk-taking and caution, disruption and pragmatism. You need someone who is both. They have the agility to go in between,” said Abbatiello, who is head of Russell Reynolds Associates’ Leadership & Succession Practice.
That, combined with an ability to make decisions with imperfect information, is also a plus in the corner office, said Elena Lytkina Botelho, one of the lead researchers on the CEO Genome project and a CEO advisor at management assessment firm ghSMART.
“Our research showed that decisive CEOs are 12 times more likely to succeed. And highly adaptable CEOs are seven times more likely to succeed,” she said. “To be decisive and adaptable, leaders must take risks.”