Right Risk: 10 Powerful Principles for Taking Giant Leaps with Your Life [Paperback]

Bill Treasurer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2003

Strategies for intelligent risk-taking, from a former professional high-diver and corporate workshop leader

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Teamwork and leadership consultant Treasurer-formerly known as the fire-diving stuntman Captain Inferno-here encourages readers to take risks calculated to catapult them out of the lukewarm safety of mediocrity and into "an intimate encounter with the magnificence of their own souls." Treasurer chooses intriguing anecdotes, often from his seven years as a member of the U.S. High Diving Team (which is where he first leapt from a diving board, engulfed in flames, and plunged into a pool 100 feet below) to illustrate how to take good risks. "When we don't take risks," Treasurer says, "we get stuck in a rut of safety. Over time, we become trapped inside our own life, like a pearl confined to its shell." He offers 10 principles to encourage such healthy risks, from "finding your golden silence" (becoming attuned to your needs and identifing intelligent risks) to "exposing yourself" emotionally (embracing honesty and avoiding the build-up of resentments). His clear, colloquial chapters encourage readers to overcome inertia, write "risk scripts" and turn fear into a positive force. Admonitions to go ahead and be imperfect and embrace the possibilities inherent in risks-whether they're professional or personal-should spark many readers to vow to live more deliberately, energetically and authentically, and the questions Treasurer poses to readers at each chapter's conclusion are helpful tools for self-guidance.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"How we handle risk is a key to so much else in our lives.... Bill Treasurer tackles the practice of risk-taking head on in a book bristling with enthralling anecdotes, intriguing information, and, most importantly, practical advice. Don't pick up this book unless you have a couple of hours to spare - because once you start to read you will be unable to put it down. And when you have finished, you will have gained important insights that will be of real use in your daily life. Right Risk is right on." - Michael J. Apter, PhD, author of The Dangerous Edge and Director, Apter International,Inc. "Everyone is a risk-taker! Some, however, have achieved more than others by using a sensible, ethical and value-based approach in making decisions that afford a high reward. In his book, Bill Treasurer helps the every day risk taker - at home; in business; in sport - define what risk really means and how you can achieve more by understanding it!" - Bob Carr, President, Executive Adventure, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers (May 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576752461
• ISBN-13: 978-1576752463
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,188,662 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bill Treasurer is founder and Chief Encouragement Officer at Giant Leap Consulting (GLC), a Courage Building company that exists to help people and organizations live more courageously.

Bill is considered the originator of the new organizational development practice of "courage-building". Bill is the author of Courage Goes to Work, a book about how to inspire more courageous behavior in workplace settings. The book became the 6th bestselling management book...in China!

Bill's newest material is titled Courageous Leadership: Using Courage to Transform the Workplace. As a comprehensive off-the-shelf training program, the material is designed to help leaders inspire more courageous behavior in their organizations.

Bill's first book, Right Risk is about how to take smart risks, and draws on Treasurer's experiences as both an organizational development professional and as a daredevil athlete.

Bill Treasurer also served as the chief editor of POSITIVELY M.A.D. (Making A Difference) (Berrett-Koehler, 2004). The book is a compilation of stories, from world- renowned experts, that inspires readers to make a difference in their organizations. Gannett newspapers calls it "required reading for all employees contemplating putting a co-worker's tie through the shredder -- with the co-worker still attached."

Bill's insights have been featured in over 100 newspapers, including The Washington Post, The NY Daily News, The Chicago Tribune, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Boston Herald, and Investor's Business Daily. Bill's insights have also appeared in such magazines as Leader-to-Leader, Woman's Day, Parent, Redbook, Fitness, American Way, and The Harvard Management Update.

Since 1991 Bill has conducted nearly 500 corporate workshops designed to strengthen people's leadership skills, improve team performance, accelerate innovation, and help executives behave more courageously. Among his clients are Accenture, PNC Bank, EarthLink, SPANX, Walsh Construction, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Forest Service, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Veteran's Administration.

Bill lives in Asheville, North Carolina, with his wife Shannon and their three children, Bina, Alex, and Ian. To contact Bill, email [e-mail].

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book for the times, from an author with credibility, September 1, 2003

By 

Roger E. Herman (Greensboro, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Right Risk: 10 Powerful Principles for Taking Giant Leaps with Your Life (Paperback)

We live in interesting--and exciting--times. While tremendous opportunities are placed before us, we are also surrounded (and influenced) by unparalleled uncertainty. Practically everything in our lives seems fraught with risk. Is this the right thing to do? Is this the right time? Questions! Questions!

Wouldn't it be nice to get some solid advice from a risk taker who knows what he's talking about? Bill Treasurer understands risk--from a variety of perspectives. He's a consultant-who formed his practice during a weak economy. Risk. Prior to that, he was a corporate executive with income in the six-figure range, yet he took the big leap of going into business for himself. From 1984-1991 he traveled the world as a member of the United States High Diving Team, performing some 1500 dives from heights over 100 feet (think ten story building). For years, he was also known as the fire-diving superhero, Captain Inferno. He dove dressed in a costume with a cape drenched in gasoline. With the strike of a match, he was transformed into a flying human torch. Risk.

You don't have to leap from tall buildings to take risks. They're all around us. The key, Treasurer asserts, is taking the right risks at the right time for the right reasons. His ten principles about risk taking, each presented in a separate chapter, guide readers through a process of evaluating the risks, obstacles, and the process to overcome fear and doubt in the right way. Each chapter presents one of Treasurer's principles, illustrated with anecdotes from his life and risk-taking experiences of others. Good stuff--highly readable, educational and thought-provoking. Each of the principle chapters concludes with a set of questions to stimulate additional thinking and assessment.

The closing statements of the book-the final chapter-emphasize the critical importance of being authentic. Kidding yourself is the biggest risk of all. Treasurer shares some valuable philosophies that put risk and its ramifications into perspective.

The book includes a good notes section and a surprisingly comprehensive index. As you consider all the risks that lie in your path-in work, your personal life, family endeavors, and so much more, the advice in this book will serve you well.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Diving Past Your Fears into Integrity, August 14, 2004

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Right Risk: 10 Powerful Principles for Taking Giant Leaps with Your Life (Paperback)

Do you have a fear of heights? Are you afraid of fire? Could you learn to dive from a hundred foot tower while your body was aflame? Despite having both of those fears, author Bill Treasurer successfully completed 1500 high dives (including hundreds while on fire) from sixty to one hundred feet over seven years. That experience helped him develop an understanding of how to overcome our fears when it makes sense for us to go ahead. The cover features a vivid demonstration of his experience. His diving provides a moving metaphor for each of us identifying our most limiting fears . . . and overcoming them to live our personal value systems.

While many books talk about fear and overcoming it, this one is special in that it does a better job than usual in explaining why some seek out dangerous risks and others avoid minor risks that could be life-transforming. I particularly liked Mr. Treasurer's argument that in a world where people primarily evaluate themselves and others by externals we become obsessed with one-upping ourselves and others for the temporary "high" that brings. Trouble is . . . we then need to do it again. Why not evaluate oneself by inner measures instead such as operating
with integrity in terms of one's values? It can be a lot more frightening to do that than to jump from the top of a tall platform while burning!

The book suggests ten principles and their related practices for taking the right risk: Become reacquainted with yourself (find your golden silence); break out of the mold (defy inertia); plan how you will overcome your fears to pursue worthy risks (write your risk scripts; build emotional incentives to change (turn on the risk pressure); put yourself where you have to perform (put yourself on the line); use your fear to help (make your fear work for you); develop your courage (have the courage to be courageous); accept your flaws (be perfectly imperfect); break through nominal boundaries (trespass continuously); and show your true colors to others (expose yourself).

Each principle has its own chapter along with riveting questions to help you focus on what you need to do.

I was especially impressed by the life scripts that most people use to define what they can and cannot do. I'm sure that Mr. Treasurer makes good use of these scripts to help his coaching clients.

Like the best self-help books, Mr. Treasurer is very candid about his own limitations. He makes important revelations about how he has struggled in relationships and in living with his beliefs in other areas that will help empower you to see how difficult it is to raise up and address these issues.

Nice job!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nothing Wrong With Right Risk: Compelling, Instructive, November 28, 2003

By 

Marilynn T. Mobley "Marilynn T. Mobley" (Marietta, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Right Risk: 10 Powerful Principles for Taking Giant Leaps with Your Life (Paperback)

When I first saw the cover of this book, which features Bill Treasurer at the top of a high dive on fire as "Capatin Inferno," I wondered if I'd get much out of it. I wanted to learn about taking risks, but I already knew I had no interest in doing something dangerous. As it turns out, this was exactly the book I was looking for. Bill spells out in 10 beautifully written chapters how one goes about assessing risks and deciding when and how it makes sense to approach a new situation or even create one. The tips make a lot of sense but it's Treasurer's gift for organization of thought and his specific insight into each tip that make the book work.

Don't be fooled into thinking that you can't possibly have something in common with a man who used to light himself on fire and jump into a small pool of water. That's an extreme example of Bill's background and thought process. The truth is, his background as a consultant and entrepreneur give him even more credibility than his days as a diver. The combination of all of these things is what makes him insightful, entertaining, and even wise. My book is covered in yellow highlighted sentences. I keep it on my night stand and find it helpful to randomly select pages from it when I need to be reminded that my own risks, well taken, will be rewarded.