10 Leadership Quotes to Inspire You to Take Risks
By Jo Miller
If you aspire to develop new leadership skills, make a bigger impact in business, and build an exciting career, it’s pretty much inevitable: You’re going to have to be bold and take some risks.
Here are ten quotes from leaders who wouldn’t be where they are today if they’d only ever played safe.
“If you’re going to grow, you’re going to have to do things that put you at risk.” — Ginni Rometty, CEO of IBM.
“If you haven’t had a major fail in your career — face-plant level — you aren’t trying hard enough.” — Sallie Krawcheck, Chair of Ellevate.
“Opportunity does not come gift-wrapped. You must take risks.” — Nina Bhatti, Founder and CEO of Kokko, Inc.
“Be bold, push yourself, and get comfortable being uncomfortable.” — Angie Gels, Chief People Officer at Everything But The House.
“Be bold. Take smart risks, make quick decisions, trust the right people. And if you make a mistake, get back up and try again!” — Liz Brenner, Vice President of Marketing Employee Engagement at SAP.
“If you don’t take risks, you’ll always work for someone who does.” — Nora Denzel, board director of Ericsson, AMD and Outerwall.
“If you’re not taking risks in your career, you might actually be creating more risk for yourself.” — Valerie Oswalt, Vice President of Sales, West Area for Mondelēz International.
“The big risks bring the big rewards. Don’t be afraid to fail, instead develop a healthy fear of losing because you were afraid to take a risk.” — Karen Stuckey, Senior Vice President, Softlines and General Merchandise Sourcing, Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
“We all have doubts, but leaders must be willing to back themselves. This can be characterized as fearlessness, but I prefer to think about this as imaginative risk taking.” — Nina Simosko, President and CEO of NTT Innovation Institute Inc.
“A leader who inspires others to take risks and be comfortable with failure, while at the same time supporting them, will inspire tremendous loyalty.” — Susan Ritchie, Leadership Coach.
Jo Miller
Jo Miller is a globally renowned authority on women’s leadership. She’s dedicated two decades to helping women advance into positions of influence by leveraging their leadership strengths. Based on her work with hundreds of thousands of women, she developed a pragmatic and powerful roadmap that guides women to become the leaders they aspire to be. Jo shares this proven process in her book Woman of Influence: 9 Steps to Build Your Brand, Establish Your Legacy, and Thrive (McGraw Hill, 2019.)
Jo is CEO of leadership development, consulting and research firm Be Leaderly. Learn more about her speaking engagements at www.JoMiller.com and follow @Jo_Miller on Twitter.
By Jo Miller
If you aspire to develop new leadership skills, make a bigger impact in business, and build an exciting career, it’s pretty much inevitable: You’re going to have to be bold and take some risks.
Here are ten quotes from leaders who wouldn’t be where they are today if they’d only ever played safe.
“If you’re going to grow, you’re going to have to do things that put you at risk.” — Ginni Rometty, CEO of IBM.
“If you haven’t had a major fail in your career — face-plant level — you aren’t trying hard enough.” — Sallie Krawcheck, Chair of Ellevate.
“Opportunity does not come gift-wrapped. You must take risks.” — Nina Bhatti, Founder and CEO of Kokko, Inc.
“Be bold, push yourself, and get comfortable being uncomfortable.” — Angie Gels, Chief People Officer at Everything But The House.
“Be bold. Take smart risks, make quick decisions, trust the right people. And if you make a mistake, get back up and try again!” — Liz Brenner, Vice President of Marketing Employee Engagement at SAP.
“If you don’t take risks, you’ll always work for someone who does.” — Nora Denzel, board director of Ericsson, AMD and Outerwall.
“If you’re not taking risks in your career, you might actually be creating more risk for yourself.” — Valerie Oswalt, Vice President of Sales, West Area for Mondelēz International.
“The big risks bring the big rewards. Don’t be afraid to fail, instead develop a healthy fear of losing because you were afraid to take a risk.” — Karen Stuckey, Senior Vice President, Softlines and General Merchandise Sourcing, Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
“We all have doubts, but leaders must be willing to back themselves. This can be characterized as fearlessness, but I prefer to think about this as imaginative risk taking.” — Nina Simosko, President and CEO of NTT Innovation Institute Inc.
“A leader who inspires others to take risks and be comfortable with failure, while at the same time supporting them, will inspire tremendous loyalty.” — Susan Ritchie, Leadership Coach.
Jo Miller
Jo Miller is a globally renowned authority on women’s leadership. She’s dedicated two decades to helping women advance into positions of influence by leveraging their leadership strengths. Based on her work with hundreds of thousands of women, she developed a pragmatic and powerful roadmap that guides women to become the leaders they aspire to be. Jo shares this proven process in her book Woman of Influence: 9 Steps to Build Your Brand, Establish Your Legacy, and Thrive (McGraw Hill, 2019.)
Jo is CEO of leadership development, consulting and research firm Be Leaderly. Learn more about her speaking engagements at www.JoMiller.com and follow @Jo_Miller on Twitter.
