Girls Just Wanna Take Risks
A new study shows that men aren’t necessarily bigger risk-takers than women. Swedish researcher Margaret Bohlin, found that girls in the modern age are becoming more likely to listen to loud music, get drunk, have sex and buy adjustable rate mortgages.
What’s really fascinating is that even though girls are taking the same risks, they still see the risks very differently than boys. In Bohlin’s study, adolescent boys underestimated risks, whereas girls acknowledged the real dangers of their behavior, and then decide to take the risk anyway. Why? Because listening to loud music at home and going to racous dance clubs where the bass threatens to shatter their eardrums with every thump was important to establishing their personal identity. “Risks be damned!” they said (probably).
13 Going on 30…and Still Taking Risks
But I haven’t had a strong following of adolescent girls on this blog since I renounced my membership to the Justin Bieber fan club. As such, I’m reasonably confident that you are not a rebellious 13 year old girl.
However, I see the same phenomenon in the adult world of work. Many emerging female leaders can go toe to toe with any male manager when it comes to risk-taking. That’s because “willingness to take risks” has become a hallmark for successful leadership in the 21st century. The message is clear: If you want a leadership position–whatever your gender–you cannot be perceived as risk-averse.
Why You Should Promote Risky Women
Nine times out of 10, the male and female leader might appear to have exactly the same propensity for risks. But when brain scientists peek under the hood, they still find notable differences between male and female reactions to risk. Researchers at USC recently found that stress causes women to behave more cautiously, while stress causes men to behave even riskier than normal. Despite modern man’s effort to smooth out his more barbaric edges, and modern woman’s effort to shed some of her prim and proper Victorian-era passivity, the primal part of our brains have not yet been tamed by modern culture.
This could be a very good thing. In tense time-crunched situations when a fire needs to be put out by your team or when a limited-time revenue opportunity presents itself, we all switch our brains to their default setting. In these cases, it is absolutely critical to have both the cautious and risky perspectives weighing in on the decision. Even if you do in fact decide to take the risk, airing and discussing the dangers upfront can lead to a much smarter execution of the risky decision. This consideration alone makes a powerful case for ensuring a more balanced mix of male and female decision-makers.
Who knows? More female leaders might just be the secret to smarter corporate risk-taking.
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