It’s About Appetite for Vulnerability, Not Risk.
After Dr. Brené Brown’s TED talk on vulnerability went viral (35 million viral!) she got a lot of offers to speak all over the US. Everyone from schools and parents meetings to Fortune 500 companies.
But these corporations would ask her to not mention vulnerability or shame.
“What would you like me to talk about then?” Brené, the 10+ years researcher in vulnerability and shame, asked.
These were the three most common answers from the business sector: innovation, creativity and change.
And this was Brené’s response, “Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change.”
Allow me to detour for a second. That is why I wanted to write about spirituality in entrepreneurship. In business, we all try to showcase our masculinity. Innovation, creativity, and change — are positive cliches in business. But the real jewel, real innovation, creativity, and change, is only discovered by those courageous enough to dig through the mud. Only until recent years is emotional wellbeing less of a taboo in the business world. Even then, tolerance is only restricted to diagnosed conditions alledgedly treatable by the Big Pharma, like depression and anxiety. While yoga and meditation are promoted primarily in the context of increasing efficiency.
We need to take that extra step and tap into the space that the business world is still avoiding. Maybe not diagnosable and less measurable but nonetheless very real issues like purpose, meaning, happiness, and fulfilment (or the lack of). These are qualities that Dr. Brené Brown refers to as “wholehearted living” and spirituality. No meaningful conversation in this important topic can avoid the mentioning of shame, fear, and vulnerability.
With that, welcome to the Spirituality in Entrepreneurship series. This is Entry №2. (Scroll down to the end for previous entries.)
The Myth About Entrepreneurs’ Risk Appetite
Some people still think that entrepreneurs are born risk takers. They are not.
Good entrepreneurs are not gamblers. No one should simply take risks.
Why? Because risks can be managed.
Having worked alongside the risk management department during my years as in-house legal counsel, I have learned that risk is not something to avoid. Instead of running away from it, simply get up close and study it. Know everything about it, measure it, analyse it, create contingencies, and make decisions based on all the solid risk management homework you did.
The risks that entrepreneurs face are no different than any small or big businesses do. They share the common ones such as financial risk and operational risk (and in most cases these risks are much greater for established businesses.) The main additional risk people tend to focus on is the unproven product market fit — that nobody, or not enough people, want to buy what you offer.
In anticipation of the risk that there may not be sufficient customers, or you may run the course of your startup’s runway before reaching your business goals, the extent of losses in the worst scenario of closing down the business are known and manageable:
- you should be operating behind a limited liability entity so that all your personal assets are off limit;
- no one can coerce you to take on any personal debt or guarantee for the business (if you choose to, that is your personal choice and you would probably do that investing in the stock market, not only because you are an entrepreneur);
- if your opportunity costs and living expenses are particularly high (e.g. you have a high-salary job, or dependents, or loans to pay off) you can consider working on your startup part-time without giving up the pay check as your safety net.
So it seems anyone getting married is taking more risks than any (risk-savvy) entrepreneur! You can only go as far as doing a prenup but that is not even enforceable most places in the world.
But there is something that is indeed particular to entrepreneurs. Last time I checked the divorce rate is still lower than the startup fail rate.
The real horror lies in the likely outcome of failure.
The losses are not the worst.
What is?
The worst, absolute hell, that we all avoid by all means is just this: looking bad.
There is no way of managing out of looking bad.
Entrepreneurs are People who have the Courage to Look Bad
The courage to look bad is the very definition of being vulnerable.
Tell someone you love him or her, not knowing if you will be rejected or even humiliated;
Organise a big party, not knowing if anyone would turn up;
Stand up for what you believe in, not knowing if you would be laughed at.
When you fail, you lose face. Not only that, you lose faith. Putting ourselves out there, truly showing up, the consequences are not manageable. It often cracks us open and transforms us, whether in a seemingly “good” or “bad” way.
Vulnerability is not weakness; it’s our greatest measure of courage. — Brené Brown
Failing as an entrepreneur.
I have just been there.
It was a huge trigger of the shame of I am not enough. And even if that has been dealt with, the shadow ofwho am I to pursue this dream that nobody dares to may follow for a long time to come.
In my darkest days, this is what I learned:
I need to cultivate my courage to be vulnerable. I need to show up. Ask for help. Follow my truth.
Once I started to do that, being honest with others and more importantly myself, the candidness was powerful. A quiet but solid foundation re-emerged. In the fancy entrepreneurial world of pitch and marketing, fund-raising and talks of AI and AR, being vulnerable is paradoxically the most dependable way to be.
That, is the power of vulnerability.
If you find this article helpful, continue reading the series below. Thank you so much! 😊 Hope this is helpful!
SERIES: Spirituality in Entrepreneurship
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