I read a lot of news from a variety of sources and I listen to a podcast just about every day. So, unfortunately, I have a recollection of when I read or heard information about chief executive officers (CEO) and risk taking.
What made me think of it was Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos and their race to space tourism, which included putting themselves at personal risk by flying in their respective aircrafts.
What I recall from “my brain” is that risk taking of the type described above extends to the business world too. If someone is a skydiver, then they are also likely to leap at deals and initiatives that are also risky.
Boards of directors really don’t like their CEOs to be taking personal risks with their lives and bodily well-being due to the impacts it can have on the financial health of their companies. Sometimes, hiring agreements for executives prohibit risky sports that can lead to serious death and injury, even skiing.
But, when you own your own company that you founded, you can pretty much do whatever it is you like to do, when you want to do it. Given you have pockets stuffed with cash and a penchant for doing risky things.
Eric Holdeman is a nationally known emergency manager. He has worked in emergency management at the federal, state and local government levels. Today he serves as the Director, Center for Regional Disaster Resilience (CRDR), which is part of the Pacific Northwest Economic Region (PNWER). The focus for his work there is engaging the public and private sectors to work collaboratively on issues of common interest, regionally and cross jurisdictionally.
