“The Power of Leadership”

Negative Capability (Part 2) – You are free to take risks

More from Paul J. Meyer…

An important aspect of negative capability – an absolute necessity for success – is the freedom to take calculated risks.

Not every venture succeeds.  Not every goal is easily reached. In fact, if no plan ever fails, that would be a sure sign that I am so conservative that I have not stretched to reach a new plateau of success. 

In one sense, all of life is based on taking risks.  Taking a risk can be reckless and foolhardy.  I never take that kind of risk.  Instead, my risk taking is the result of a carefully planned strategy with a sound basis for expecting success.

Several years ago I spoke to a group of college students who were part of an entrepreneurship program at their university.  They wanted to know what the important characteristics were of success for someone who wanted to be an independent business owner.

I told them that one of the most important traits they could develop was the ability to take calculated risks and to learn from the failures that would obviously result from some of those risks.  I made a list of all the ventures I had entered that failed (I do not like to use the word ‘failure’ as I am never a failure, but I will use it here to define a business venture that did not work out.).  I was surprised myself to find that I have been involved in more businesses that proved to be “failures” than in those that have succeeded.

But I learned from each failure!  Instead of complaining about the unfairness of circumstances or sinking into despair, I studied my actions to discover what had gone wrong.  Then I incorporated the principles I learned from studying the failure into my planned actions for later ventures.

Negative capability enables me to assume a genuine sense of positive expectancy.  When I remain calm and in control in the midst of negative circumstances; it is possible for me to believe in a bright future and to expect success in reaching challenging goals.

Negative capability reinforces my long standing belief that in every adversity is the seed of equivalent or greater benefit if you: believe it, look for it, and work for it.

“Success seems to be connected with action.  Successful people keep moving.  They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.” – Conrad Hilton

Have a great day!

Shawn

Russ M. Miller, LLIF – Chairman & CEO
Performance Institute (Human Capital Development)
Global CEO Academy (Management Training)
Sunny Hong Zhang – Managing Partner – China
Shawn M. Miller – Managing Partner – USA

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