Exposing yourself to risk and failure can help push you up the career ladder. Just make sure someone’s watching.
During his 48-year career from owner of a small student newspaper to the head of a multinational conglomerate with over 400 companies, Virgin CEO Richard Branson copped the misses along with the hits, noting that every error in judgment, whether a foray into cosmetics or a push into the high stakes cola market, brought with it valuable lessons. “I’ll never again make the mistake of thinking that all large dominant companies are sleepy,” he blogged about his failed attempt to break the Coca-Cola and PepsiCo duopoly.
