Venture into New Territory

The business world is full of examples that demonstrate the value of trying something new. As business adventurers, each one of us is an entrepreneur at heart, and we love the challenge of trying something new. Leaders of the future need to have the stomach for conflict and uncertainty, both among their people and within themselves. That's why effective business adventurers need to have an experimental mind-set.

Some decisions will work, and some won't. Some projects will pay off, and some won't. But every decision and every project will teach you and your organisation something about how the marketplace is changing and about how your company compares to its competitors.

Having self awareness of your strengths and weaknesses, or your capabilities, is incredibly useful for the business adventurer. Often what you may consider are your strengths and weaknesses are very different to how others perceive you.

Having identified your capabilities look at ways in which you can improve them further, or develop areas where you are not so capable. Always strive to stretch yourself, look at what you can do that makes you uncomfortable and step outside your comfort zone. Tackle your fear and limiting beliefs head on becomes easier the more often you do it. Your self confidence will build and you will create new opportunities for yourself.

Your first unknown is also learning how to be a good business adventurer. Everything else is connected to this skill. Ask any new manager about the early days of being a boss. Indeed, ask any senior executive to recall how he or she felt as a new manager. If you get an honest answer, you’ll hear a tale of disorientation and, for some, overwhelming confusion. The new role didn’t feel anything like it was supposed to. It felt too big for any one person to handle. And whatever its scope, it sure didn’t seem to have anything to do with leadership. Once you’ve figured out how to establish yourself then you have to deal with why you are a leader in the first place.

Much of it has to do with leading people and teams into new ventures; it was why you were chosen to be a leader in the first place. You showed qualities and skills that evidenced a high potential of success in dealing with the unknown and as a leader. Many times going into the unknown actually requires courage to move in a new direction. The status quo may want to sit still, not change anything and keep things the same.

However, to improve or move ahead, a business adventurer may find that the solution is convincing everybody to step out of the boat into the water, even if many are afraid to do so. Courage to try something new, despite the crowd, is an inherent skill of the business adventurer.