Risky Behavior and Your Career Growth

By Melanie Axman (Boston)

A recent study commissioned by Barclays Wealth and Ledbury Research shows that women perform better than men in financial markets, because they are not as overconfident and don’t take as many risks.

The study seems to corroborate a 2010 New York Times article, which cites primitive biological instincts possibly at play with risk taking and aversion. Alexandra Bernasek, a professor of economics at Colorado State University, says, “Before the dawn of history, aggressive risk-taking might have given men an advantage in finding mates, while women might have become more risk-averse to protect their offspring.”

In general, men tend to participate in high levels of risk taking in the office as well. According to a recent article in Time Magazine entitled “Why Women Are Better at Everything,” a study by John Coates, research fellow at Cambridge University, tested male traders’ hormone responses to workplace decisions. He found that testosterone surges during winning streaks may drive both risk-taking and an attitude of infallibility.

Yet, while women may be better suited to keeping an even keel when it comes to trading, we’re often cited as too timid when it comes to taking chances, jumping on new opportunities, and tooting our own horns – to our own career detriment. If women participated in more risk-taking in the office, would we experience greater success?

To Live is to Risk

The benefits of risk taking at work can seem fairly obvious; when carefully thought out, a calculated risk can sky rocket a career via a successful project, collaborative effort with senior executives, a well-placed suggestion or a daunting initiative undertaken.

Successful outcomes from risk taking allow an employee to make a brazen choice, and create an opportunity for greater and more immediate visibility. Under the surface, an accomplishment at the office derived from a risk taken can also bolster an employee’s self confidence and morale, especially if they are rewarded for innovative thinking.

Earlier in the year, Beth Comstock, Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President of GE focused her address on risk taking at HBS’ 20th Annual Dynamic Women in Business Conference. She mentioned risks as a persistent theme throughout her own career, and consistently returned to the notion of risk and risks worth taking. Challenging the young female audience before her she said, “To live is to risk. Not to take a risk is to be stagnant, to stand still.”

Challenges of Risky Behavior

However, risky workplace decisions gone wrong can lead to many dour consequences, the worst of which is the loss of a job. The promise of stability and security, especially in uncertain times such as these, can lead women to cling to the familiar and known variable. In 2009, there was speculation around the risky business decisions consistently carried out by male executives, and how they may have led to the economic collapse. The theory, which was reported in ForbesWoman and other publications, argued that the cautiousness and conservativeness exhibited by women might have prevented them from taking the dangerous financial risks made by their male counterparts.

Risk taking is one of those areas in the workplace that can be challenging to navigate. The pros and cons of risk taking are affected by many variables: whether a risk is calculated, or spontaneous, how company culture supports risky and new ideas, and who will be affected by the outcome of a decision, to name a few.

In terms of company culture, some businesses prefer a ‘tried and true’ approach and the resulting environment is one in which change is limited, and new ideas are quickly squashed. In these particular companies, employees (male or female) acting as potential change agents may be seen in a negative light. Other companies, seeking fresh ideas and strategies, can only thrive through the innovation and risks undertaken by their employees. Their resulting office culture is one in which workers are encouraged to contribute new content regularly, and take risks that ideally move the company forward on a regular basis.

Some companies fall somewhere in the middle of both these models, encouraging risk and change through a structured process of exploratory thinking and ideas submission.

Worth the Risk

While risk-taking continues to be a complicated terrain to navigate, women can seemingly benefit from first understanding the culture surrounding risk at their workplaces, and then taking calculated and strategic risks which position them for success. By speaking up regularly with well-placed feedback and suggestions, sharing new and innovative ideas, and collaborating across unknown terrain, we continue to move our position forward in the workplace and give a platform to our ideas and voices.

Sometimes we’ll fail, but successful steps forward will be well worth the risk.