Owning the risk

For a long time, I considered it an enduring irony that executives are rarely held accountable for their decisions. This seems unfair, but it’s also true that the typical executive holds a basket of risks, and some of them are going to come due even if they do an excellent job of managing the overall basket. When you take on a risk as a non-executive, your situation is a bit different. You probably own exactly one significant risk, and similarly to the pressure to ensure your “staff project” succeeds, every time you take on a personal risk, you need to ensure it’s a success.