Risk Versus Opportunity

Do you embrace opportunities or do you see risk? The problem is they go together. You can’t have worthwhile opportunities that don’t entail some risk. It’s the way you look at the two that determines whether you are moving forward or holding yourself back.

I overheard part of a presentation, that among other things discussed social media. The presenter admonished the group to be careful about what they put on social media. The problem is that the risk was addressed more strongly than the opportunities.

I understand that you need to be careful. However, if the group was told that they can market themselves online and that everything they post to social media is a permanent part of their brand or image it should achieve the same thing. If they were further told, that their lack of participation dates them, or at least leaves them at a competitive disadvantage to someone who is openly building a positive image online, they would have a different perspective on the risks involved.

I believe there are other significant advantages to participating in social media, but this post is about seeing opportunities and then assessing risks rather than seeing risks, avoiding them and missing opportunities. It’s about glasses being half full instead of half empty.

The real lesson to be learned from social media is that there are millions using it to meet their goals. So what if instead of focusing on the risks, you focused on how others are getting things done using it?