Change / transformation | Future-ready | Leadership

The hard is what makes it great

I run into CPAs all the time whose risk management strategy goes something like this:

“I just hope I can retire before any of this stuff impacts me.”

Thanks for the inspiration. Sarcasm intended.

Let’s try that again: Why should we take risks?

Before you answer, think in terms of your organization, not yourself. This isn’t about you. This is about your organization’s future.

With that in mind, ask yourself that question again.

Why should we take risks?

The short answer is this: That’s how you become great.

Nobody makes their organization memorable by following the crowd. Nobody does great things by mailing it in. Innovators don’t take the path of least resistance.

They do things the hard way.

[embed]https://youtu.be/ndL7y0MIRE4[/embed]

To recap:

  • "Do one thing every day that scares you." — Mary Schmich
  • "The biggest risk is not taking any." — Mark Zuckerberg
  • "Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.” — Dave Barry
  • “Always do what you are afraid to do.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
  • “You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
  • “If you want to thrive in a disrupted world, you have to be incredibly adept at not standing still.” — Bob Iger
  • “It turns out that playing it safe has become recklessly dangerous.” — Josh Linkner
  • “If it can be done, it will be done. If you don’t do it, someone else will.” — Daniel Burrus

Those are some pretty smart people — smarter than me, certainly. Probably smarter than you. Are you going to prove them wrong by taking the easy way?

Get to work. The hard is what makes it great.

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William D. Sheridan