Following on from my top three tips for you before you take up a new CRO or senior risk job offer, to avoid a nasty surprise, here are my three tips for when you start the role, to lock in your future success:
- Stand in the shoes of others: As you go through your induction and learn to navigate your way around the organisation’s policies, systems and its physical locations, ask yourself what it would be like for a non-risk senior manager. How is the role of risk in good governance portrayed? Would you be clear on what was expected of upper and middle managers?
- Be Curious: This has two aspects to it. The first is pretty obvious. To navigate your way around the organisation you need to be naturally curious to do it well. The other angle on being curious is to “never assume”. Ask yourself and others “why?”. Why is something done a particular way. Why is it not done another way? Is it achieving its purpose?
- Earn Trust: While you may have been hired to be a trusted adviser to the executive and board, trust is earned. You are invited to become a trusted adviser by others seeking your advice. You can’t simply say you are their trusted adviser. And that is why I renamed my trusted adviser program to my Persuasive Advising Program. You need to persuade people to take your advice so they learn to trust you!
All the best with your new role! And if my last two blogs came too late for you, it’s amazing what some remedial action can do to turn things around. If you want some detailed guidance, I would encourage you to read my latest book Risky Business: How Successful Organisations Embrace Uncertainty.
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