Leading a team of risk and resilience professionals poses its own set of challenges. Our role is often misunderstood or viewed as punitive and/or negative. You as the leader play a pivotal role in not only helping the organization achieve its goals, but also in ensuring that your teams are equipped with the mental toughness needed to be successful.
Here are a couple of points to reinforce with your teams:
Fostering Open Communication:
One key principle to highlight is the importance of not taking pushback personally. Encourage your team members to communicate openly and candidly. By doing so, you create an atmosphere of trust and collaboration, where ideas and concerns can be shared freely. Offer up space for your team members to come and discuss their challenges with pushback. Guide them with questions on how they can focus on behavior rather than perceived motivation behind the pushback.
Embracing Patience as a Virtue:
Change within organizations can be gradual. It's crucial to stress the significance of patience to your teams. Remind them that meaningful transformation often takes time and persistence, but the results are worth the wait. Help your team by creating measurable goals, realistic action plans, and achievable timelines.
Shifting Perspectives:
Encourage your risk managers to evolve from being perceived as the "Department of No" to becoming trusted consultants. Encourage them to approach their roles with a problem-solving mindset, always striving to find solutions and ways to say "yes" while ensuring sound risk management.
Alignment with Organizational Goals:
Above all, emphasize the need to align risk management efforts with the broader goals of our organization. Encourage your team to actively contribute to achieving positive outcomes, making sure that risk mitigation remains integral to our decision-making processes.
By focusing on these principles, you empower your risk management teams to lead with confidence, drive change, and increase their value to the organization.
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