Take a Risk!

“I can do that,” I said calmly, as I looked across the table at a potential client. All the while in my head, I could hear a loud frantic voice saying, “Are you crazy? You have never done that. You don’t know how to do that!”

That was the early days of Roundpeg and people were not exactly beating down the doors to work with me. I was excited to be sitting in front of someone who actually had money to spend on marketing. So I decided I would figure it out. Sure, it was a little outside my comfort zone, but it wasn’t as if I was signing up to do accounting. And that first project opened up the door to other related opportunities, essentially changing the course of business.

The characteristic that made me comfortable saying "I can do that" is common among successful entrepreneurs. It’s what allows us to jump off the edge of a cliff into the unknown as we grow our companies. But courage to try something new shouldn’t be limited to entrepreneurs. It’s a equally valuable to anyone who is in a position where they want to be doing more tomorrow than they’re doing today.

As a business owner, I looked for that trait in my employee. I didn't always spell out everything I wanted done because I didn't always know the answers. What I did know is if someone steps forward and says they want to try something I was willing to let them, supporting their efforts. Sometimes we had exceptional results, other times it didn't work out. That’s part of the risk when you create a culture of innovation.

When there was a glorious failure we focused on what we learned, so next time, someone was tempted to say, we can do that … we could!