10. How to launch a new initiative at work

Navigating the risk tax women face in the corporate world

Have you heard of the "risk tax"?

If you're a man, likely not. If you're a woman in the corporate world, you've likely experienced it, even if you may not have known that is what it’s called.

After analyzing S&P 500 executives and directors from 2009 to 2019, researchers found that female executives may face a "risk tax" that requires women to take more risks than men to achieve top positions.

Here's the thing: I don't think it's that women have less good ideas worth pursuing, but more so that we tend to take more calculated strategic risks that have long-term payoffs. For example, the study mentioned above found that female executives are more likely to invest in capital expenditures and R&D, leading to more long-term revenue potential and innovation. But, it’s often a hard sell in the corporate world to invest in something that results in long-term ROI vs. something that can start generating revenue today. 

This is something I’m currently encountering: I'm building out a business case at work on why we should invest in establishing our tax service line as a thought leader. Of course, the advice I keep getting is to show the ROI, and preferably the sooner we see the results, the better. But thought leadership is a long-game. There may be short term results, but since thought leadership is built on trust, that takes time. And from an executive's perspective, I get it: if you have one pitch that gives you great ROI within a year or two, that's an easier pick than ROI that's tough to measure and may take years to come to fruition.

So, if you are also looking to bring innovation to your industry or company and come up with new ideas, service offerings or initiatives to drive business growth, here is what I’m learning about how women can use risk-taking to our advantage in the corporate world:

1. Just do it: sometimes, it’s better to ask for forgiveness, than for permission. If you see a market trend that you think will take off in the future and you’re able to start acting on it now, go for it. Start moving forward strategically to work towards building your practice in the area you’re seeing, especially if you can do it within your existing role. For example, everyone is talking about AI right now and ESG is a big goal for many companies. If you have an interest in either topic, start reading up on it and then see how it could fit into your firm’s or company’s growth strategy, e.g., can you land a new client that would allow you to test out this new trend in that engagement? Or maybe an existing client is looking for help in this area and is willing to give you a shot to help them with this issue? 

2. Get support from the get-go. You can’t do this on your own, so early on, bring in supporters who can help you execute your idea and start dripping the importance of investing in this area to people in your organization - especially decision makers. If you are able to get buy-in from someone who can advocate on your behalf to the board or management, that is a game changer for trying to get something new off the ground at work. Having someone else believe in your idea and support you as you try to do something new helps so much! 

3. Build relationships in the industry outside your organization. Even if you’re not quite ready yet to launch a new service line, project or initiative that you think your firm or company should be getting into, start studying up on the topic or market trend and go meet people who are also passionate about the topic (or are already working in it). For example, if you think metaverse is the next new thing that’s going to change your industry or market niche, then ask your boss to pay for you to attend a metaverse conference, join industry groups or panels talking about this topic, and find other like minded people to connect with. 

4. Talk about what you’re learning and the benefits (and potential ROI). It is so much easier to go to market with a new initiative and to sell the idea to management if you have built up trust in the market as a thought leader and subject matter expert on the topic. Even if you’re starting out with zero knowledge, as you learn, talk about it with your co-workers, post commentary on social media (LinkedIn is great for this!), start a newsletter covering the topic, or offer to do an internal training or external webinar for your company or firm on the topic. Visibility is crucial for the success of a new initiative - both internally and externally, so don’t test or build up your idea in a vacuum. Talk about it all the time!

5. Build a business case. If you’re going to successfully pitch a new idea at work, you have to be able to talk about the benefits and how it’s going to drive the business growth (and impact the bottom line!). As you’re learning about this new area and networking in the industry, start an Excel document or a Google doc to gather insights on the potential benefits and ROI of investing in this area. Anything that could potentially help you get buy-in from decision makers should be saved somewhere: statistics, metrics, case studies, competitor analysis, success stories, insights from industry leaders, etc. 

6. Take the credit. If you do go through with it and your initiative takes off, take the credit. So often, women tend to give credit to the team that helped them, and then downplay our part in the work. Yes, you should acknowledge and praise those who contributed, but don’t forget the role you played in getting this new idea into a successful venture. 

Have you ever started a new initiative at work? 

If you could start any new initiative or service offering at work, what would it be?

P.S. If you’re within the first five years of your career and want my blueprint on how to take your career to the next level, I’m sharing everything I wish I knew when I started working at a big 4 accounting firm here.