Strategic risk taking is a valuable instinct in rock climbing but it also has practical applications in your career. Whether you are a senior executive applying for a new job or a high school student taking the SAT, understanding and conveying a gut instinct for strategic risk taking is essential to success.
On my latest trip to Thailand, I had the opportunity to go rock climbing in Koh Phi Phi (means Phi Phi beach). Aside from avoiding certain death by the hands of a gang of wild monkeys, I also gained some insights into strategic risk taking.
In coaching applicants through applications for competitive jobs and for top programs, I have found that the most meaningful way to convey that you possess a certain skill is not to say it outright but rather to demonstrate it through an example. A memorable and interesting way to do this is by telling a brief anecdote about something you do outside the workplace that requires a transferable skill.
For example, if you are applying to jobs that require you to evaluate risk such as for a hedge fund analyst position, conveying that you display an instinct for risk in your non-work life can bring the message home.
Rock Climbing Example:
When I stepped up to the rock face, getting to the top looked impossible. Trying to figure out how I was going to safely navigate my way up the holds without falling and/or being attacked by monkeys along the way was information overload. I took a deep breath and figured out the first five moves. That I could do. I would at least get ten feet off of the ground and maybe I would see a path that I didn’t see before once I got there. Sure enough, once I was ten feet off of the ground, I could see the next five moves. Slowly but surely I made my way up the rock, five moves at a time, until I reached the very last hold. That one was a leap of faith. I literally had to go airborne to grab the next hold. I had to rely on my experience climbing and my instincts that I would make it to the top. Sometimes there is only so much calculation and planning you can do. Then you have to rely on your experience and your instincts and take a leap of faith.
Applicant analogy: This example illustrates an ability to take calculated risks. Rather than being overwhelmed at the prospect of having to climb a 500 foot vertical rock face all at once, you calculate the risk as far as you can see and you carefully navigate the possibilities until you make it to the top. This example can be conveyed at a job interview, school application, or simply networking to convey an understanding of strategic risk taking at an instinctual level. It is also more memorable than your typical work example and can add depth to your applicant profile.
Test Preparation Analogy: This example is also of particular importance to anyone taking a standardized test. Many times, you read a math word problem or a passage in a verbal section and you are paralyzed. You have absolutely no idea how you are going to reach the end of the problem. You are afraid that taking the wrong path will waste valuable time but the more you think about it the more time you are wasting. My advice, just like in rock climbing, figure out the first few steps and then go from there. Write it down, work out the first few concepts and I promise you that the next few steps will become clearer. Before you know it, you are at the end of the problem. Like my experience in Thailand, staring at a rock face wondering how I was going to get to the top isn’t doing anyone any good. Just get up on that rock.
Take away: Understanding strategic risk taking at an instinctual level develops insights that are valuable to many career options and is essential to excelling in standardized tests.
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