Page 73 - IRMSA Risk Report 2021

1. WEAR MANY HATS

Unless and until risk management stops being considered a separate activity from running the business, managers and executives
will continue to see little strategic benefit. To transition the shift in mindset, risk professionals must have certain traits. Certain
personality traits can stand in the way of a risk professional being able to put on the different personas required for effective risk
management. Wearing different hats is an art form that can take years to refine.

Consider these hats:

THE HAT AN ULTIMATE
INTEGRATOR MUST WEAR

ARCHITECT FACILITATOR COACH COMMUNICATOR INFLUENCER

Executives are not Focus on helping the Wearing this hat, you Wearing this hat, you You do not need to
interested in following organisation to succeed must be an internal must speak the language be a C-suite executive
a particular risk and not simply to avoid business coach by of business and not or hold a lofty title to
management standard. failing. Wearing this providing advice and the language of risk, so wear this hat. When
Wearing this hat, you hat, you must facilitate perspective in one- that communication is wearing this hat, your
must figure out what conversation, ask the right on-one conversations, meaningful and valuable job is to influence
they need, deliver questions, and ask difficult while keeping yourself to business. You should behaviour, decisions,
it, and ensure that questions. You should be and the business speak about risk, and and the direction of the
it is embedded into able to set off a controlled focused on the results measure risk, in terms of organisation. Success
everyday decision- burn of contained and that must be achieved. business-performance here relies on the ability
making. productive conflict by metrics to demonstrate to systematically create
bringing together the right that you understand the rapid, profound, and
perspectives, creating business values, needs, sustainable change in a
a common platform for objectives and drivers. few key behaviours.
collaboration and carefully This will help to build
revealing the most trust and respect.
important differences
of opinion for further
discussion.

SOURCE: ADAPTED FROM CAROL WILLIAMS 6

The above personas can, to an extent, be developed over time but an effective risk management professional will need to possess
at least some capacity for each of these if they are to ultimately influence the direction and decisions of an organisation. Being wired
for these personas is important because they are, after all, traits not skills.

6 www.erminsightsbycarol.com accessed 5 December 2020.

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