I agree it is hard for someone to know who they are, even with help, even with age. I also do not think we have to worry about changing society with ex ed, at least over our life-times, although everyone seems to agree that we have a lot of work to do as a society. What I do think is that we can get a better educational experience for individual students which can contribute more to their life-long learning, help colleges to increase the work-readiness of their graduates, and help to inspire students to achieve in a way that compliments and enhances traditional academic learning. OK…that sounds pretty ambitious too.

-Jim

In reading this, I focused particularly on your use of the word “believes”. A person chooses a career path, you imply, based on who they think they are, what think their finest skills to be. I found this to be an interesting point because, if true, then what would seem to result would be a entire society comprised of citizens performing jobs and careers in line with who they think they are. Not necessarily who they actually are, not necessarily what they could potentially achieve, but who they believe their skills give them the capacity to become. Given that individuals of different socioeconomic standings are often taught to view themselves in line with the traditional job prospects of their class, I question the implications of a society based around who people believe themselves to be. I question it primarily because it is impossible for someone to achieve an entirely non-biased view of who they are, without outside authority figures (parents, teachers, etc.) telling them who they can be, who they are supposed to be.

Your first paragraph aptly summarizes what Jim and I have appeared to be dancing around. To be honest, it felt as though Jim and I stumbled upon the notion of risk taking the more we talked about experiential ed and leadership. It was hard not to include it in the wider application of experiential education. And to that end, I think having attended a university where experiential education was prized, it does make you have those a-ha moments faster. More could definitely be written/studied about that…maybe we can start another blog commet?

PS - I took a look at your “Go Global and Get Uncomfortable” post on your site…definitely sparking somet thoughts. I’ll post a comment soon. And as always, thanks for the stimulating conversation!

~ Allyson

Allyson - I LOVE this —> The primary difference between people who WANT to make the world better and people who DO make the world better — is the degree of risk they are willing to accept in their lives.

Coincidentally (or perhaps not), Jim and I ended up discussing something very similar earlier this week- At what point in a person’s life do they feel compelled to lead? Compelled to DO? At what point do they realize that not leading and not acting is incredibly selfish, self-centered, self-involved? This then links back to experiential ed - at what point in a person’s career + personal life do they realize this? Can we hypothesize that this a-ha moment happens earlier for those who have participated in experiential ed earlier in their careers? (just a thought)

Also, Harvard Business school has a new dean and there is a great series of blog posts on the future of leadership. It might be nice to look at those.

Mary

Apologies for just jumping in on this now. I did quite a bit of thinking to your first question — what differentiates the three concepts of leadership, entrepreneurship, and success. But I find that my answer to your first question was inspired by your second question. Let me explain.

I do not think great leadership involves a lot of risk taking — but that is primarily because I think great leaders already have a higher risk appetite. What might look risky to one person, would be a normal business/social decision for a great leader. In other words, I think the leader themselves has a higher threshold for risk taking. And that is probably what has afforded them the opportunity to become great leaders.

The same could be said for an entrepreneur. The primary difference between people who WANT to make the world better and people who DO make the world better — is the degree of risk they are willing to accept in their lives. If we put them on the same spectrum, then yes, the great leaders and entrepreneurs of the world are “risk-takers” — but compared to one another — I think they would all see taking risks as second nature. They can’t stop finding risks to take.

As it relates to your first question, the sweet spot where leadership, entrepreneurship and success combine might be risk taking. A Venn diagram would likely be helpful here. In those outer regions, where they do not overlap - there are other distinct characteristics. For example, as you pointed out — you can have a leader who, for the sake of argument, has a low risk tolerance but is very good at managing people and maintaining vision / motivation in an organization. Similarly, you can have an entrepreneur that might not be able to risk the family house on a business venture — but can see the pathway to success and will partner with a more risky counterparty to realize their vision. However, it is important to note that each archetype not in the “sweet spot” of convergence for the three types is often required to partner with someone who is in that sweet spot. I do not think the reverse holds true.

I actually hope this does not answer your question – but rather, I hope it spurs additional conversation on the topic. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

~ Allyson

Second question — Do you think that successful leadership requires entrepreneurship and risk-taking? I think of two poles of leadership as the externally-facing entrepreneurial leader on the one end and the internally-facing maintainer on the other. Senior leadership teams require a good mixture of both types. I have a strong preference but realize that both are necessary. Additionally, it is interesting to think of definitions of “success” in relation to these two styles of leadership.

Thanks for the post!