Leadership and Risk Management Come Face to Face

Sometimes, taking a risk on a star player can result in a leader's greatest triumphs. But it can also lead to their downfall.

These words belong to Jena McGregor, who writes on leadership topics for the Washington Post. She is writing about the failure in leadership at Ohio State University where football coach Jim Tressel resigned last week, a victim of his own lack of leadership.

Tressel placed his trust in several players and they let him down. His reaction to the problem, though, was not to address the underlying issue. Instead it was to look for ways to cover up the misdeeds of his players so they could continue to perform on the field.

Being a good leader is one of the most valued traits in business. The reason for this is because it is a skill that is difficult to find. Being a good leader means taking risks, but it also means having the courage to address your own faults and the faults of those you are charged with leading.

Taking risks, as McGregor notes, can lead to a downfall, which is why enterprise risk management has become a centerpiece of a company's strategy in recent years. Risk managers can bring a balance to an enterprise that headstrong leaders might have otherwise ignored in the past.

Most of us base our beliefs on history—the whole doomed to repeat philosophy. HBO aired its own production of Too Big to Fail last month, the story of the banking collapse of 2008. The underlying belief of the bankers was that housing prices always recovered. This time they didn't.

Good leadership might have saved this country some monumental headaches, but it was in a vacuum at that time, enticed by greater and greater profits.

We can't be afraid to be take chances. We can't achieve great success without taking some chances, but today more than ever we need good leadership to stand up in the face of problems and make the right decisions, whether that means pushing ahead with a shaky deal or recognizing that you may have compromised your moral stand.

Needless to say, there is a perilous line that runs between those two conditions. Businesses love to turn to sports for inspiration. The lessons of a football coach should not be lost on the business world, either.