Thoughts ahead of our Fearless Focus conversation on risk-taking
By Emily Kestel
For our last two Fearless Focus events, we’ve talked with women leaders across the state about leadership and confidence.
Those conversations serve as a perfect segue for our next topic in the Fearless Focus event series: risk-taking.
After all, how can you develop confidence in yourself and your abilities without taking at least a bit of a risk?
The most successful people have often failed – many times – before getting to where they are now. They take big risks, which requires taking a leap of faith even through fear.
In our conversation on Oct. 6, we’ll hear from women who have done just that.
Through sharing both personal and business-related examples, our speakers will give advice on how to find success, how to learn from failure and how you can support yourself or women you know in their journeys of reaching toward their goals.
To preview our discussion, we asked our speakers to answer: “What gives you courage to take risks?”
Here’s what they said.
Kirsten Anderson, author and advocate: Learned and built-up self-confidence: Knowing that I’m strong enough, in mind, body and spirit to handle any type of outcome.
Connie Wimer, chairman, Business Publications Corp.: Your ‘risk muscle’ is like all your other muscles – the more you use it, the stronger it becomes. When you take a risk and it works out, it gives you confi dence to do so again. When you take a risk and it doesn’t work out, you learn something that will be very useful in the future. You learn to trust your knowledge and instincts and what once would have been a risk becomes simply another decision.
Katie Hoff, team leader, Cyber Security Operations, Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield: It’s knowing that there will be an end result of taking a risk and that I’ll get to discover what that is. It’s exciting, and that drive to discover what the end result will be helps me push myself to get there.
To hear more from these leaders, register for the free event, happening Thursday, Oct. 6, at noon.
