These Women Of Power Give Tips On Risk Taking

Embracing fear can help you elevate in your career.

Originally Published Feb. 28, 2017

You can’t be successful if you don’t take chances. Many of us know the adage “no risk, no reward,” yet we still struggle with embracing it. Christina Norman, Head Of Content for the Birame Sock, founder and CEO of Kwely Inc., and State Farm Vice President Agency – Sales in the Southern Florida Market Area Barbara R. Carr, shared tips to help businesswomen face their fears during the 2017 Women Of Power Summit.

Here are some of their words of wisdom that can help us all stop fearing failure, start recognizing opportunities, and learn how to take risks that can transform our careers:

Taking risks helps you get to know yourself: “It allowed me to assess who I was. It really allowed me to see what value I bring to the table and build that confidence that I needed.” —Birame Sock

You don’t have to go it alone: “I had to learn how to use people in my life for counsel. One of the hard things when you move up in an organization is that everyone thinks you know everything. So it’s hard to ask for help. Being able to cultivate those relationships, those safe spaces where I could say, ‘Hey, talk me through this, talk me down from this, talk me out of this,’ has been important.” —Christina Norman

You can prepare your team to leap with you: “I try to be as transparent and as credible as I possibly can, helping them understand I’m going to be right there with you. You’re not in this by yourself. We’re a team. And we’re going to get through this together.” —Barbara Carr

It’s not the end of the world if it doesn’t go as planned: “If I decide to leave my job to be an entrepreneur, I’m confident enough to know if it doesn’t work out, I can always go and get a job somewhere. I kid you not, every day I would wake up and say, ‘You can always go to McDonald’s and get a job there.’ It was one of those things that would ground me, like it’s OK, you can do this.” —Birame Sock

Failure’s not always a bad thing. “One of the things I learned from a previous investor was [to] fail often, fail fast, [and] fail cheap. And that was positioning failure not as a negative thing but as a positive. Fail often. That’s how you reinvent yourself. That’s how you move forward. You’ve got to do it often to learn from it.” —Birame Sock

And if you won’t take a chance on yourself, who will? “I’ve always bet on me, and I’m going to continue that no matter what. And when things don’t go right, you better double down on you.” — Christina Norman