The Manager's Pocket Guide to Effective Mentoring

Dealing with Risk

The idea of “taking a risk” is a more complicated point than it sometimes appears to be in our competitive environment. For some mentees, it is not about rather straightforward decisions and subsequent actions. Instead, to actually engage in what could quite reasonably be viewed by many as a prudent risk involves the difficult hurdle of overcoming subjective as well as objective obstacles. In fact, to the mentor, the mentee’s reluctance to pursue a clearly defined action may appear to be a puzzling overreaction.

However, such inability to act may often be explained by what the current “risk” represents to the mentee; those with a painful history of lack of demonstrated success can gradually become “risk avoidant.” So the risk ...