{"id":6031,"date":"2015-11-16T15:16:59","date_gmt":"2015-11-16T15:16:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/?p=6031"},"modified":"2017-03-21T15:16:26","modified_gmt":"2017-03-21T15:16:26","slug":"ordinary-people-extraordinary-risks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/ordinary-people-extraordinary-risks\/","title":{"rendered":"Ordinary People, Extraordinary Risks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>In the same way you learn leadership from leaders, law from lawyers, and art from\u00a0<\/strong><strong>artists, you learn most about risk-taking from risk-takers.<\/strong><\/p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-10900\" src=\"http:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/skydivers.jpg\" alt=\"Skydiving risk takers\" width=\"500\" height=\"247\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/skydivers.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/skydivers-300x148.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/>\n<p>Emerson once wrote, &#8220;The great distinction between teachers sacred or literary is\u00a0that one class speaks from within, or from experience, as parties and possessors of the fact; and the other class, from without, as spectators merely.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>We read many stories about real life risk-takers, including those from risk&#8217;s outer\u00a0edges. However, even the extraordinary examples will be put in service to the\u00a0ordinary risk-taker. Lessons from risk&#8217;s extreme edge can be applied well within its\u00a0inner fold. Common truths are often most magnified through uncommon feats.<\/p>\n<p>Just as courage, composure, and commitment are required of a fighter pilot, so too\u00a0are they required of the young entrepreneur opening a business, the professor\u00a0breaking free from the confining prejudices of an academic discipline, and the\u00a0soldier defying an unjust or immoral order. Courage, composure, and commitment are\u00a0equally required of the local politician taking a stand on an unpopular issue, the\u00a0addict reaching out for help (and the jaded cynic reaching back), the young mother leaving the deadly comfort of an abusive relationship, and the volunteer firefighter\u00a0running into a burning house.<\/p>\n<p>Right Risk happens every day, everywhere. The promise woven into all Right Risks is\u00a0our own relevancy. Each of us wants to feel that we have lived a life that matters.\u00a0We want to make a difference for ourselves, for our families, for our communities,\u00a0and for our world.<\/p>\n<p>When the choices we make, and the actions we take, are reflections of our higher\u00a0self, we are ennobled with the knowledge that our life has been worthwhile, at least\u00a0to ourselves. In the end, the only person we will spend our entire life with is\u00a0ourselves. We are a lot easier to live with when we are proud of who we are. And we\u00a0are most proud of ourselves when we take Right Risks.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Consider the following questions:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In what areas of your life do you tend to take more risks (i.e., physical,\u00a0intellectual, interpersonal, or emotional)? How might you be able to &#8220;borrow&#8221; from\u00a0this area in order to take more risks in the areas of your life where you tend to\u00a0avoid risk?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Review the four main criteria for a Right Risk: passion, purpose, principle, and\u00a0prerogative. Based on these criteria, do you think your risk is a Right Risk, or\u00a0something else?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Take out a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle of the page. On the left,\u00a0list some risks that turned out well. On the right, list the risks that turned out\u00a0badly. Place check marks next to the risks on either column that met the criteria of having been Right Risks. Of those checked, which, if any, do you regret having\u00a0taken?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>About the Author<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.billtreasurer.com\" target=\"_blank\">Bill Treasurer<\/a> is a professional speaker and the Chief Encouragement Officer of<br \/>\nGiant Leap Consulting. His most recent book, Leaders Open Doors, became the\u00a0top-selling leadership book on Amazon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the same way you learn leadership from leaders, law from lawyers, and art from<br \/>\nartists, you learn most about risk-taking from risk-takers..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6031"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/290"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6031"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6031\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10901,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6031\/revisions\/10901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}