How To Judge Risk Taking Preferences

 

An ever-present problem for you as a project manager is being able to "read" candidates so that you can match  the right person to the available position(s). Some people are better at this naturally than others, but this difficult skill can be acquired over time. For example, consider yourself in the following situation.

You have just selected from a large pool two candidates who pass the knowledge requirements for a team leader position. This positioni s going to require  someone who is willing to take risks to  get the work done as necessary. Led by this leader, the team of analysts is going to have to get results without a well-defined process and little time to plan before starting work. Stakeholders will have to approve the team's approach and methods on the fly. If the team does not get results, your project is doomed early.
 

Qualified Candidate 1 

A mild-mannered woman - a former analyst for 5 years - who has led teams of mild-mannered analysts for about 5 years. During the casual conversation in the interview you learned that she is prudent with her personal spending .

Qualified Candidate 2

An enthusiastic project worker with leadership potential. He has been a successful analyst for over 10 years, although he has never led a team. The person who recommended him mentioned that he is on a competitive parachute  formation team.

Think about this for a couple of days and look for the next post with a full explanation.