ThemeDirection & Goals
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Questions5 to explore

Risks

Identify & manage risks in different situations

The risks you take in a career are not just things that might go wrong; they are the shape of how much you are actually willing to want.

Risk in a career shows up in many forms: changing jobs, starting something, saying something honest, going after something you might not get. Most of us have an intuitive sense of how much risk we can tolerate, but it is worth making that sense more explicit, because it has a big effect on which moves we make and which ones we avoid.

There is a real difference between the risks you take deliberately, having assessed them, and the ones you take without realising it, or avoid without realising that avoidance has costs too. Staying in a situation that is not working for you is also a risk, just a quieter one.

Risk tolerance is not fixed. It shifts depending on your financial situation, your confidence, your life circumstances, what you have already lost or gained. Getting clear on what your actual tolerance is right now, rather than what you think it should be, helps you make more honest decisions about what to pursue.

How to work on it

Practical ways to reflect on and develop this dimension of your working life. How it tends to look at different stages of a career, and where to put your attention.

Name the risks you are already taking

It is easy to see risk in the bold move and miss it in the status quo. Mapping what you are currently risking, as well as what you might risk if you change course, gives you a more complete picture.

Assess likelihood and impact separately

When you consider a risk, try to separate how likely the bad outcome is from how bad it would actually be. Early in a career, most risks are more recoverable than they feel. Later, some carry more real consequences.

Know your floor

Understanding the minimum you could live with, financially, professionally, personally, helps you know how much room you actually have to move. That floor changes across a career.

Questions to explore

Use these on your own or in a group. There are no right answers, only better conversations.

What is the biggest risk you are currently avoiding, and what is that avoidance costing you?
How has your tolerance for risk changed over the course of your career, and what has driven those changes?
What would you do if you knew the downside was recoverable?
Which risks feel scarier than they probably are, and which do you tend to underestimate?
What would you need to feel stable enough to take the risk you are currently sitting on?

Things to notice

Risk tolerance is often framed as a personality trait, but it is heavily influenced by circumstance. Someone with financial security, a support network, and a strong resume can afford more risk than someone without those things.
Framing every uncertain move as a risk to be managed can lead to over-caution. Some things that feel like risks are just decisions.
The risks you never take also shape your career. An entirely risk-averse path can leave you safe but stuck, or in someone else's story rather than your own.