There is no growth without risk. Personally. Professionally. Period. My new favorite podcast, Acquired, drove this point home.
Acquired was featured in a recent article in The Wall Street Journal. Acquired tells epic tales of the world's most successful companies. In the words of co-host Ben Gilbert, "How something started with nothing in obscurity and turned into the most important or valuable institution in our modern world - that's a hell of a hook, and that's our hook basically every time."
So far, I've listened to the episodes on Nike and Visa (they're each four hours long). But they don't feel long, at least to me, because the tales are so gripping. Why? Risk. The episodes are chock full of against the odds stories. Phil Knight making an in-person cold call to a Japanese shoe manufacturer. Dee Hock making a wild proposal to a room full of banking executives. This is the stuff of modern-day legend. There are also stories of their competitors playing it safe and falling behind.
In 2020, I took a risk by taking a new job. I was looking for career growth and was offered a role as CFO. However, there was a caveat - the company was entering merger negotiations and there was no guarantee that I'd be CFO of the merged organization. I saw this a risk worth taking. Not only would I get to grow by being part of a larger organization, but I’d also get a chance to work on merger due diligence, something that doesn't come along very often. The risk paid off, and I grew immensely. I ended up in the CFO role. Being CFO of a larger organization combined with the experience of merger due diligence and integration was a huge accelerant to my professional development - like getting an Executive MBA on the job.
As the lyrics to my favorite Bob Dylan song go, "He not busy being born is busy dying."
Founder/CEO at S2 Capital
1moGreat episode Michael Levy and Chris Powers!