The Normal Risk
this is part of the project of GT WIKI — Change Management
Since the day we start with AIESEC, we get to know with the term “Challenging Experience” and we — ourself are seeking more Challenges to deal with, and we also create to Youth around the world more and more Challenge. As our wish, welcome everyone to the year 2020, when we face the Challenge almost every morning. I believe that 2020 is an unforgettable experience for every AIESECer in the world.
Let me show you my experience with AIESEC. Joining AIESEC in 2016, with me AIESEC is the greatest thing I have done in the entire of my life. I started with non-exchange function, doing the event and by chance, I was selected to be Outgoing Volunteer Local Chapter Vice President. Then, I was so surprised about how the challenging experience can change the young people’s perspective about community, culture, and about themself. I continued and ended up with Incoming Global Talent and Global Entrepreneur Product, where I can bring people around come to my country, taking the new challenges and making some positive change for the world. As not my expectation, learning a new domain is so intense but yes, I come to see more challenges than it can not beat me down. And finally, I was so confident about what I know about this process to start making something cooler. Then Covid-19 came and beat everything down, included me. The new concept of the nowaday AIESECer came along.
So firstly, together, we differentiate the common words we use in “Covid-19 generation”: Crisis and Risk. In the starting of this pandemic, I also think about these two words, after searching the way most correct meaning I would like to explain to you here. The crisis is something that occurred suddenly make the situation great difficult. The risk is the possibility of something bad happening. The difference between these two works is about reality and possibility. Hence, we manage them differently. We make the plan for the coming risk but not crisis, we only can respond to the crisis. From what confronts me, I would share my thinking about these things. We operate our plan, the crisis may come and we respond with them by some changes, and in any change, we may face some risks. Hence, let’s say risk will be here and there around with us. As the head of a community, you can be a team leader with 2 members or a national leader with 100 members, during plan implementation, you must ready with risk. For the term of risk, there are three things you should be aware of
1. Quickly realize the risk
If the crisis occurs, everyone may know but I realize the risk is a talent, or it can be a skill that you need to learn and practice. Before implementing a plan, take all the aspects of the action to define the risk that may have. Be mindful of the word “all aspects”, they are HR, Finance, Market, Revenue, etc. If you are able to go deeper into each aspect, it will be great. For example, in HR, it can be member’s development, member’s experience, retention rate, leadership ratio rate, new membership recruitment. I often say“ be sensitive with the risk”, because everyone will be affected by the crisis for sure, the more risk you see, more opportunities you catch in the market internally and externally. Sometimes, we assess risk-oriented members or teammates is the negative type of workmate, but since you know how to explore their thought, I sure your team will grow brightly. Especially in peak of the pandemic.
2. Manage the risk
I believe all AIESECers have great potential for management, so plan for risk is also not much different. Prioritize the risk like you prioritize your idea to implement. My team often group the risk into consequence then we know what kind of risk may come. We also have different types of risk, and had different common actions for them. From my experience, they are: not able to cover the risk, and the risk causes a huge impact — so we need to change the original plan; able to cover the risk if it comes — so we plan the detail responsible people, accountable people, action and sometimes we even need a budget plan or different scenarios for them. A thought I want you to have is that “with this risk come to all the stakeholders, how should we/our product/our organization act outstandingly”, I mean how we can turn this risk to opportunity. Like we see in around economic life, the hero always does something differently (or especially) in an unpredictable situation.
3. Assess the result
The result here can be any things. Visibly, it can be money, the number of members, or invisible things like the learning lesson we have after those hard times. I mean, even we make it succeed in this road or not, the experience we go through is worthy to the future of us or organization. Taking down them by the deliverable way, and train to people that continue your path.
Feeling is Important
Looking around, the common thing of “winner” is they all have a good mind that’s ready for upcoming things. I myself used to fall in the “unmove moment”, the common thought I hold is about unconfident. It may come from the experience we have not come through, then I fear what I say and I do not believe my words can help people move forward. Sometimes, I kept thing about what people are talking about me if I do something like I am so bad. Those thoughts totally do not make any sense, believe me. They hold me back, I am run in the circle instead of straight. In my case, I took around 1 month to wake up from those things. Even who you are, always aware of how much power you have in your hand, especially you are leader now. Or else, just think simply about what we are trying to “promote” every day for youth worldwide that “youth matters”, and of course you are such a powerful youth in that position. Back to the risk, after my experience, I strongly say that risk can happen in any plan you do, so open with the risk like a normal life, like what we daily talk about AIESEC — CHALLENGE.
People Matters
Even I mention your power a lot above, but I sorry to say you are nothing if nobody works with you. If you are MCVP, in your action, plan in advance who you have to talk in order to make your plan the most successful. Normally, those stakeholders are MCVP TM/PM, MCVP F, or maybe MCP, whoever. The question you have toanswer is “how they matter to my plan?”. But the stakeholder, even more, harder to drive are your member — maybe LCVP or EST. “Forever topic” in AIESEC is about alignment/connection between these stakeholders. Be very honest, LC is the layer who actually do your plan, and make a direct impact on youth, fail in that relationship, you may fail not only your plan but also your term. From my point of view, we have different concerns for one topic, it leads us to do differently. I would recommend you to engage the important stakeholders in the needed engagement, the understanding and input collection should come along with the plan, it will help your plan be accurate with the stakeholders; it also helps the stakeholders are aware of the upcoming action.
Last words for you which also inspired me “By the gentle way, you can shake the world” — Mahatma Gandhi. Don’t stop your action every day, good things come last. Enjoy!
