As the years go by, I realize that the professional characteristics and qualities that make a difference are not taught in universities or learned in books. They learn on the street. And when I say on the street I mean the personal battlefield, the school field when we were children, the sports field when we were young, the professional field when we get older.
The attitude towards risk, towards loss, towards challenges, towards adversity is in each person’s DNA, in how we have been raised, in what we have seen in our parents and elders, but to a large extent it depends on how we are doing. facing the situations that we have to live through.
The risk
The attitude towards the fear of losing creates notable differences between people, but can we educate ourselves about risk?
One of the things that has caught my attention the most is the notable differences in the fear of losing. I have met people capable of risking a lot without shaking their pulse, of putting themselves in charge of very large organizations, with thousands or tens of thousands of people under them. To others who move well in moderate, measured and controlled risks. That is, from a certain level of risk or even a certain size of company or degree of responsibility they can no longer and do not want to pass. I, for example, belong more to this group. I have started, I have set up companies, I have developed complex projects, but beyond a certain size I did not have the skills to continue growing. No problem. It’s about knowing your limitations very well.
There are other people who are totally risk-averse, who neither want nor feel like undertaking or taking risks. That they will hardly change companies or take on great challenges beyond what they are used to.
And there is a fourth group that takes the cake. They are those who, being able to win, do not make decisions because of the associated costs of winning or the associated effort. The other day I met someone like this: a person told me that he did not move his savings into time deposits because, overall, a good part of what he earned was going to go to the Tax Agency in the form of capital gains tax. . It was no longer about risk aversion, since we are talking about a guaranteed financial product. We talk about not winning so as not to lose a part of what has been won. In reality, the person was not thinking in terms of taxation, but of loss. I make ten, but I’ll lose four in taxes. Result, stop earning six net. But they don’t see it that way. They see it as a loss associated with gain. It is the maximum level of inaction, of aversion to challenge.
When we think about our children, we try to give them the best education and training possible. But… do we educate about risk? How is it done? Do we leave it to the risk of the street, of what life throws at them?
My opinion is no. Our own lives are its mirror.
