Taking Calculated Risks
A lot of times I've had people say to me that I'm a risk taker.
I do not identify as a risk taker, but I've taken some time to kind of think about what is it that people see that maybe they are impressed by or interested in when it comes to taking risks. And when I look at my clients, what I noticed is, there's a lot of them that I'm sure from the outside, folks are saying, “Wow, that person is really risky,” or “they have a lot of confidence.” But they have no idea what's happening in our coaching sessions that get them to take those leaps.
Today, I'm going to pull back the curtain and talk about how a lot of the folks that you're looking at who you think are risk takers — just taking these massive leaps — have likely been doing a lot of calculation in the background, and preparing themselves for what outwardly looks like a huge thing that just happened. S
The three parts I'm going to cover in this conversation are: clarity of vision, the finances behind it, and safety. As always, I'm going to use some clients as examples to paint the picture of what I'm talking about.
Let's start with clarity of vision.
I have a client right now who is in a leadership position in a large organization and is eyeing another position two levels from where they're at right now. In our initial conversations, they wanted to get ready, but knew that it likely won't happen for me for another two years, potentially. Then on our last call, they hopped on and said, “You're not going to believe this, I got a call and I was offered the opportunity to apply for a position in a completely different department. But it would put me at that leadership level where I could start in the next month.” They didn’t know what to do.
The first question I asked was, “How does this new opportunity align with the vision that you have for your leadership?”
We had already been working on them getting super clear on: Why do I want to lead? What am I leading? And how do I want to lead that work? And so they were very clear that their purpose is, and this is a person in the education world that they want to be devoted to restorative justice, supporting students of color and urban communities.
They have this vision for what they think is possible when teams work together to find alternative means of discipline and to help students with healing and getting to the root of the experiences that they're having.
This new job, on paper, did not look like an aligned position. But a lot of times, it's not what's in front of you, but what can you make of it. We had a conversation around, reminding them of all the things they’ve said that they want to do as a leader, what it looks like in the current context they’re in, exploring what they could create in this new position, and which one of those is more aligned with their vision for their leadership and the mission of where they see themselves going.
That should be the first thing you think about when you're going to take a leap. Because jumping to positions in your leadership journey may not be a big deal if you are super clear that this is related to your purpose — to the reason why you lead — because that is where the passion is going to come from. It's going to help you to be able to paint a picture for the people that you serve and who you're leading as to what you all are going to do together.
So the first thing is, do you have a vision for your leadership? Do you know what you're trying to do as a leader and how you want to do it? Because that should help you to know when it's the right time to take a risk, as it's an alignment with that vision, even if it wasn't what you were thinking it was going to look like, or it's a push that's happening sooner than you expected.
Number two, finances. I work with folks of color, there is no way we can deny that money is part of the conversation. I say often myself, I'm divorced and not partnered, so I don't have another salary that supports me if anything happens, and my family can't just kick me $50,000 to help me if I need to take some time off if business isn't going well.
So every time I have pivoted from a position, taken a sabbatical, or changed job, it has not been without careful financial calculation. I have a couple of clients with whom that's what we do: if they come to me saying they want to make a pivot in their career, take a sabbatical, or start a business, my first question is always, “Have you analyzed your finances?”
If not, we schedule a money date and I walk them through how to look at what their current spending looks like, what it would look like when they take this leap, and what boundaries they have for themselves on the lowest amount of money that they can have to take the leap.
When I took my sabbatical, I knew I had six months to maintain my lifestyle. I had done careful calculations and figured out that if I didn't spend money in ways that I have been, how much more would that extend me? What's the point where if I'm on this sabbatical and I noticed there's this much money left in the bank, doesn't matter how you're feeling, you're going to have to start looking for a job?
So there's a lot of financial conversations and figuring out your numbers that need to happen when you're taking a risk. Yes, you hear the stories of the people who quit their jobs, and they just figure it out. But you don't need to create a financial burden on top of you already putting yourself in a position you've never been in before, taking a chance on something you haven't done.
If finances are the one thing that's going to open you up to truly explore this new opportunity and be creative in it, then take the time for a money date.
I'll usually sit with my clients and break down for them how analyze all the different parts of their finances. And then when they come back to the next session, we go over what they learn about how much time feels comfortable for them to make things happen.
I’ve had some clients that say, “When I really sat with it, I don't think I'm going to be ready for another year. So this is what I'm going to commit to over the next year to be able to take the leap that I want to take.”
You might have folks who are out here taking a jump with 20 cents in their pocket, but a lot of the folks that you see making moves likely have been doing a lot of financial planning.
Then third, you have to figure out what feels safe for you.
It's not the same for everybody. There are certain things that I may need to have safety in taking the leap in my career, or choosing to step away and take a sabbatical, other folks are going to have a very different situation.
A lot of times, part of the conversation is folks taking into account family members, maybe parents that they're also taking care of. If that's included in your process, then we can't ignore that that exists.
When we talk about safety, what I'll usually do is I'll have clients start to track over time, when are you noticing that you start to kind of spin out and it's really difficult for to start planning and thinking about the future? Then we start thinking about all the ways that we can help them when they start to feel that coming up. This means we're doing a lot of practicing being in our body, being able to notice sensations, thoughts and feelings.
Separate from that, we start to track one of the times when you're noticing your soul shutting down. As much as you love this idea of moving forward and trying something new, you just can't bring yourself to do it. In those situations, what are you going to need to activate yourself?
In all of this, we're tracking before the person even takes the leap, what are the things that you are realizing you need to feel safe and calm? And again, it's gonna look different for everybody.
I'll say for myself, community is a big part of safety for me. I moved down to LA during the pandemic when I went into business full-time, I knew that I wasn't going to have colleagues in an office to go to and a boss that I was checking in with. But I was going to need close friends to check in with, I was going to need to have somebody down the street that I could go to if I just needed to get out of the house, or needed to decompress, or just needed community and relationship. This was all calculated into what I knew was going to create safety as I jumped into entrepreneurship full-time.
Life is made up of risks. Every time we want to try something new, we're essentially taking a risk because we're putting ourselves in a whole new place we've never been before. But to just jump in is not the right way to make a move that's going to actually feel comfortable for you so that you can fully bloom and show all of who you are.
So when you are thinking about leaps that you want to take in your life, how can you take the time to make sure that it's actually a calculated risk that's in alignment with you, who you are, and how this is going to further your purpose?
That's what I help my clients do. If you are in a place where you're ready to take a leap and try something totally new, or push yourself to a new level of your leadership, your visions and your dreams—coaching is the place to do it. It's where you will have protected space where you get to put all the things you're feeling on the table. And as your coach, I help you to make sense of all of that. I help you figure out in the midst of all of that, what are the clear two or three things that you can be working on, so that even though you may not have a full idea of what's to come in the next year, at least you can be doing things to prepare yourself to take that risk.
If you’re interested in learning more, book in a discovery call. On that call, we’ll have a conversation about who you are and what you want for your life. And I give you a little bit of coaching to help you suss out the real goals you have for the next six months of your life. So if you've never had a coach, but you're thinking about it, schedule a call to talk, no pressure. I just want more folks of color, more Latinas, to be in safe spaces, where they have all of the assistance they need to take big risks to bring the visions they have for their life to fruition. So let's make that happen.
