Risk Taking

There are two kinds of risk takers that I encounter often in my professional and personal life.

Person A would come to you, and say that they are going to take a risk in their life, but because it is important, they are going to do it, they want you to support them (emotionally, show of support, financially) through their journey, vision quest.

Person B is more sinister, they will jump into a risky situation, then once it produces the risky outcome, will come to you for support. You might need to drop everything, because their need is so critical.

Which approach would you prefer? It's not that you can talk person A out of their journey, so consulting you did not produce a better outcome.

I thought of this as I ran across an article on Steve Fossett, the billionaire explorer who died in 2007 on a plane ride across Nevada desert. An inordinate amount was spent to track his whereabouts in Sierra Nevada and his body was found after one year. I would have hated being friends with this guy.

As I am growing older, I'm shying more and more away from risk takers, the dreamers, the visionaries, the Steve Jobs of the world. I find comfort in the reliable, the predictable, the known bunch. I like reading bios of volatile people, but finding more and more difficult to deal with them.