Prudent Risk Taking and Other Such Terms

Consultants usually have their own jargon that they consistently use to describe various behaviors their clients demonstrate.  Over the years, TalentFirst has devised or adopted several of these terms.  The interesting thing to me is that as we work with clients for the long term, many of them begin to speak in the same terminology.

Here are some of the terms that we have used and that clients have adopted for their internal use.

• Prudent risk taking - this means that people are able to make decisions on the basis of limited information and that they will rely on their intuition or their gut reaction to choose a course of action.
• Act with urgency - this means that when opportunities arise, individuals with rise quickly to take advantage of the situation, particularly when their is an obvious gain at stake.
• Strong resiliency - this means that people are able to bounce back quickly when things go wrong.  They are able to move forward in the face of setbacks or challenges.
• High energy - this means people have the gas in their personal tanks to drive action consistently throughout the day.
• Low urgency - this means that people have less drive than may be needed to achieve success in an organization.

So where did these terms come from?  Most are adaptations from the scales within our assessment tool, the Behavioral Insight®.  Interestingly enough, as clients begin to utilize metrics, they begin to think in those terms.  Such tools provide an objective benchmark system against which to compare various individuals or groups of individuals within an organization. They become descriptors of the culture and enable team members to understand what good behavior looks like.

In a way, I suppose, this is a compliment to us and our work.  To me, it is also a way to know that we have made a positive impact on an organization and perhaps helped people to understand what the cultural expectations are.