Sometimes, taking a risk can be the only way you grab your chance of being successful. iTALK tells you how the world's super rich made it big by doing what no one else dared 
A new study led by the University of Cambridge scientists revealed how "risk-taking" could be an important aspect of being a successful businessman. The researchers suggest that risky decision-making may have an "evolutionary" value for grabbing opportunities in an environment, where competition is tough. They found that risky decision-makers are much more likely to become entrepreneurs than their managerial counterparts.
He takes on steelworks no one else will touch
Lakshmi Mittal,
CEO, Arcelor Mittal, Worth $23.5 billion
Lakshmi Mittal, the "Carnegie from Calcutta", has built a fortune out of steel works that rivals had thrown on the scrapheap. For over 20 years, he has been picking up and turning around steel plants that no one else wants, and his empire now spans the globe from Trinidad to Kazakhstan via Chicago. He and son Aditya are prepared to take risks no one else in the industry are willing to assume. What impresses Mittal's rivals, is his ability to make acquisitions perform, when no one else can.
Risk takers who made it big
Steve Jobs,
Co-founder of Apple and chairman of Pixar
Steve Jobs towers over Silicon Valley as a renegade. Fortune magazine calls him a "global cultural guru," responsible for changing the way the world works and plays. Yet, he has been criticised for his superior attitude, taking credit away from subordinates, firing employees in fits of anger, and minor infractions such as parking his Mercedes in handicapped spaces. His net worth is estimated to be over $20 billion.
Kishore Biyani,
Managing Director, Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd
He built his business based on consumerism that was about to unfold in post-liberalisation era, leveraged on it and benefitted. A creator and destroyer by his own admission, he draws extreme reactions from his peers. He uses original entrepreneurial skills like the ability to read a consumer's mind, intuition, and takes gigantic risks.
What risks did you take? >>>
Reena Sachdev
Director, Travel Arena
The only way to move ahead in a business scenario that's competitive, is by taking risks. Risks that pay off are those where traditional norms are broken. You should realise that the consumers are willing to experiment.
Chand Narayan
Group Head - Organisation Development, Network18 Media and Investments Ltd
Everything in life is a risk. Managerial risks are taken on known and preferably proven organisational, team or individual strengths. Risks should be minimised in known areas of weakness and untested capabilities. Organisations appreciate leaders who take "calculated risks", so that the probability of success is higher.
Vikas Varma
Business Head - Music Entertainment Channels, INX Media.
Taking a risk means having the courage and acting on an option that seems like a new path to tread. I've done it often enough, and the high you get when you're vindicated, is indescribable.
About 18 months ago, when I began working on 9XM, I decided that the channel would have no VJs, and would play music all day long. Everyone, except my CEO, thought it was a huge risk. 9XM is not just India's, but the world's biggest Bollywood music channel.
Sanjiv Kumar
VP & Head HR, People Interactive (I) Pvt Ltd
In today's business environment, you cannot be a successful leader if you are risk averse. That doesn't mean you blindly jeopardise the business by taking any and every risk. A calculated risk, which furthers a strategic goal, is what you should aim for.
