F E AT U R E Building a Confident Workforce to Manage Risk by Dale Carnegie Staff • To build a more positive, confident workforce in an era of constant change and disruption, encourage and reward risk mitigation and make sure people have the skills and clarity to adapt. • Resilience, which is a key building block of risk mitigation, is supported by two characteristics: a positive attitude and confidence. • A positive attitude enhances problemsolving and decision-making and opens people up to a broader range of thoughts and behaviors that will help them bounce back from setbacks. • A healthy level of confidence gives people the self-assurance and determination to take in new information, recognize its potential usefulness and take decisive action. Business continuity is fragile. Instead of getting weaker — or breaking — under the pressure of force or stress, agile
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organizations not only bounce back, they thrive on change and even get stronger. The coronavirus pandemic, which has created unprecedented turmoil in business and in all aspects of our daily lives, has underscored the need for risk mitigation to deal with uncertainty and disruption. It’s also shown us why resilience is so important. Resilient people who are able to adapt, recover and learn from these tough experiences are the true source of competitive advantage for agile organizations. Resilience requires a mindset that is open to information and primed to succeed, and that mindset is supported by two specific characteristics: a positive attitude and confidence. Both play a role in helping people listen, learn and achieve, qualities that are increasingly vital as digital transformation continues to disrupt the workplace.
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How a Positive Attitude Supports Risk Mitigation People with a positive outlook expect positive outcomes — and get them more often than those without it. In many cases, positivity also enhances problemsolving and decision-making and helps people think more flexibly, creatively and innovatively. As a result, people who go into a challenging situation with a positive attitude will often be more proactive at coming up with workable solutions and able to quickly make decisions so that they can take advantage of new opportunities. And that’s what risk mitigation is all about. Scientists have looked into why a positive attitude can have such a powerful impact and help people be more resilient in the face of adverse events. Unlike negativity, which tends to put limits on what you see as possible,
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