Which words reveal someone willing to take risk?

You can judge co-worker risk threshold by listening carefully to their choice of words.

Low-risk-tolerance language clues:
• “I don’t like to make waves”
• “What do I do if things go wrong”
• “I don’t like to work without specific instruction”

High-risk-tolerance language clues:
• “I like the freedom to do a job the way I think it should be done”
• “Detailed instructions don’t always produce the best results”
• “We’ve got to be able to accept great change.”

Source: Paul Dunphy, Design Label, East Lyme, CT 06371.

When do you know the risk is worth it?

Transitional times are the riskiest. “Risk” is defined as the exposure to the chance of injury or loss. Unfortunately (or fortunately), if there is no risk, there is seldom a reward. Nothing ventured - nothing gained. Friedrich Von Schiller said it best when he said, “He that is over-cautious will accomplish little”. Asking the question, “Are you getting to your goal more effectively” doesn’t deny risk. That question takes risk into account. God gave us a neck to stick it out. If we are to get to our goal more effectively, we have to stick our neck out and make things happen or things will happen to us instead.

Try driving in a car and avoiding intersections or having certain careers without flying in a plane. You would find that the avoidance of risk costs much more than taking the risk in the first place.