Connecting Risk Adversity to Accountability
With the school year just starting, I’ve been seeing a lot of advice for students. One article I found interesting was actually written for college grads. It’s by Arianna Huffington titled “Dear Class of 2011: Good Luck…You’re Really Going to Need it!” What was most interesting to me about the article wasn’t the stats about student loan debt being greater than credit card debt. Or the jobs crisis and how grads have one of the highest unemployment rates out there.
It was in the final couple of paragraphs. Huffington said:
Conventional wisdom says that today’s graduates are going to be less likely to take chances, less likely to pass up the safe bird in the hand, but, in fact, there is now a higher premium on taking risks and following your dreams, creating your job instead of just looking for one.
And a few sentences later, she wrote this:
And, while they’re at it, they should use these attributes to help hold our leaders accountable, and keep them from turning away from the mess they’ve made — with so many missed opportunities and perverted priorities.
It made me wonder. Is there an inverse or adverse relationship between accountability and adversity to risk?
On one hand, I’d think that people who are risk takers would be more inclined to hold others accountable. They would be willing to accept the consequences of doing so – good, bad or indifferent. Then again, I can see how risk adverse people might hold others accountable if for no other reason than to make sure risky activity doesn’t occur.
Possibly there’s no relationship at all. But that takes more convincing. Holding others accountable is not something that occurs naturally. If it was, the U.S. wouldn’t end up in half of the situations it does (as Huffington points out). Being able 
Rich Rothman authored a post over at Gap International titled “Five Critical Steps to Saying Something Uncomfortable.” It’s a good piece that touches upon both taking risks and holding people accountable. The article offers five guidelines to consider when faced with those situations where we might have to say something unpopular or uncomfortable. A skill we need to all have in our toolbox of resources.
What are your thoughts? Is there a relationships between risk and accountability?
Image courtesy of renaissancechambara
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