Planning to take a career risk? Smart lessons from a CEO's career

The Great Resignation makes job and career movements look so easy. But what about our own fears, which are so often the greatest obstacle? Here, we draw some lessons from the career of Sharon Price John, President and CEO of Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc

- Rita McGrath and M Muneer

Have you been planning to take that career move, but not done so because of the "what ifs" fear? Sharon Price John's fabulous career is full of lessons on how to get past those fears and get out of your own way.

The fears that come on your path to career progress are aplenty. Being afraid to ask for that next job. Being afraid to take credit. Being afraid to speak up. But as Sharon Price John's career suggests, the fears of what could go wrong are often wildly overexaggerated, and the upsides of what could go right are underestimated.

But first, who is Sharon? She is the President and CEO of BuildA-Bear Workshop Inc, a teddy bear retailer headquartered in St Louis, USA. She has turned the company around in just a few years and repositioned the two-decade-old brand for the future.

In her forthcoming book, "Stories and Heart," Sharon recounts an early episode in her life of ambitiously determining to climb a huge beech tree. She made it to the branch she wanted to climb, and then realised that despite weeks of planning to get up the tree, she had somehow neglected to figure out how to get back down! Most of us can relate to this experience as children. As she reflected on the experience, she consciously noted that setting challenging goals could be labelled scary (it might be bad) or exciting (it might be awesome). Picking "awesome" made the setting of challenging goals something to be enjoyed, not feared. Writing the goals down also makes them much more executable.

So here are a few smart ways you can pan for the risk:

Sometimes you have to experience what you don't want to learn what you do want