Persuading Executives to Engage in Risk Thinking
The Risks of Persuasion
Jeffrey M. Pollack is the Lynn T. Clark II Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship at NC State University’s Poole College of Management and the incoming Editor-in-Ehief, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice.
Organizations today operate in an environment characterized by rapid technological change, geopolitical uncertainty, complex supply chains, evolving regulations, cyber threats, and growing stakeholder expectations. Yet many enterprise risk management (ERM) leaders continue to face a common challenge: persuading senior executives to devote time and attention to structured discussions and needed actions regarding risks that could threaten the organization’s strategy and long-term success.
Ironically, resistance rarely stems from a belief that risks do not exist. More often, executives respond with comments such as, “We talk about risks all the time.” While that may be true, those conversations are frequently fragmented across business units, focused on immediate operational issues, or limited to known risks.
Effective ERM in today’s business environment requires something different. It requires leaders to step back from day-to-day demands and engage in thoughtful discussions about emerging risks, interconnected exposures, risk appetite, strategic uncertainties, and potential disruptions that may not yet be visible. Persuading busy executives to engage in those conversations can be difficult.
Fortunately, there is a vast literature on persuasion that offers valuable insights for ERM leaders seeking to elevate risk discussions and help organizations make better-informed strategic decisions.
The Elements of Persuasion
Monroe’s Motivated Sequence outlines five clear steps that can lead to more effective persuasion:
- Get Their Attention
- Demonstrate a Need
- Satisfy the Need
- Visualize the World the Way You See It
- Provide a Call to Action
Let’s walk through each step individually.
#1: Get Their Attention
First, to have any chance of persuading effectively you have to get the audience’s attention — you have to overcome the desire for a listener to be apathetic or distracted and tune you out. In the digital and mobile environment in which we live, you have to convince someone that you have something worth listening to.
Among the most effective ways to capture an audience’s attention are:
- Telling a quick, relevant story
- Sharing a startling statistic or fact
- Presenting an engaging conclusion drawn from data
For ERM leaders, gaining the attention of busy executives often means helping them recognize that today’s most significant risks may not resemble yesterday’s, resulting in critical risks being overlooked.
Rather than beginning with risk registers or heat maps, start with a recent event that disrupted another organization, industry, or market. A sudden supply chain breakdown, cyber incident, AI-related failure, geopolitical disruption, or reputational crisis can serve as a compelling reminder that strategic objectives can be derailed by risks that emerge quickly and unexpectedly.
Leaders are more likely to engage in a risk discussion when they see its relevance to issues already affecting organizations like their own.
#2: Demonstrate a Need
Second, you must demonstrate a need that those in the audience may have. This need must be relevant and quantifiable in some way.
Demonstrating a need involves evoking an emotion in the audience—such as urgency, excitement, or curiosity. This step opens the door to helping your audience see the world the way you do by illustrating why your message is relevant and worth their attention.
Perhaps it begins with a simple “What if?” question about how prepared they are to handle a particular risk event should it occur within their area of responsibility.
Executives oversee initiatives designed to advance organizational performance and achieve strategic objectives. Along the way, unexpected hurdles often emerge that slow progress, require additional resources, or derail success. Helping executives recognize how proactive risk thinking can help anticipate unexpected — but knowable — disruptors addresses a need they may not yet recognize.
Many executives understand risk conceptually but do not always perceive gaps in their organization’s preparedness. An effective ERM leader creates awareness of those gaps by asking thoughtful questions rather than presenting conclusions.
Questions to consider include:
- What assumptions underpin our strategy, and are we gathering insights about emerging risks that could significantly impact those assumptions?
- How prepared are we to respond if one of these events occurs tomorrow?
These questions help leaders recognize that discussing current challenges is not the same as proactively evaluating future uncertainties. The objective is to create constructive tension around the possibility that important risks — and the organization’s responses to them — may not be receiving sufficient attention.
#3: Satisfy the Need
In the third step, you provide a way to satisfy the need.
This continues the persuasive process. Step one captures attention. Step two demonstrates the need and establishes your relevance. Step three proves that you can help address the need you’ve identified.
To convince the audience that your solution is worthwhile, provide evidence. Demonstrate how the solution works, what implementation requires, and why it matters to stakeholders.
Once executives recognize the need for deeper risk discussions, ERM leaders must demonstrate that the ERM process provides practical value rather than additional bureaucracy.
Leaders need to see how structured risk discussions can:
- Improve decision-making
- Identify blind spots
- Challenge critical assumptions
- Strengthen strategic planning
Rather than presenting ERM as another reporting requirement, position it as a management tool that helps leadership teams better understand uncertainties that could affect strategic success.
Sharing examples of successful risk thinking from elsewhere in the organization can demonstrate the tangible benefits of proactive risk management.
#4: Visualize the World the Way You See It
The fourth step is to help the audience visualize a future in which your recommendation has been adopted.
Invite leaders to compare the current state with a future in which proactive risk thinking has improved outcomes. The more specific the picture, the more persuasive it becomes.
One of the most powerful tools available to ERM leaders is scenario thinking.
Future One
The organization continues operating without meaningful discussion of emerging risks, external dependencies, or strategic vulnerabilities until a disruptive event blindsides executives.
Future Two
Leadership teams regularly engage in enterprise-wide risk discussions, identify emerging issues before they disrupt initiatives, develop contingency plans that enhance agility, and make strategic decisions with a better understanding of uncertainty.
The goal is not to promote fear. Instead, it is to help leaders see the value of preparedness, agility, and resilience.
Executives are often more willing to invest in ERM when they understand how stronger risk conversations contribute to achieving strategic objectives and protecting stakeholder value.
#5: Provide a Call to Action
The final step is providing a clear call to action.
Make your request specific, measurable, achievable, results-focused, and time-bound whenever possible. Rather than ending with “Do you have any questions?” clearly state what you want the audience to do next.
When introducing ERM initiatives, avoid asking executives to embrace a complex enterprise-wide process immediately. Instead, focus on a practical first step.
The call to action may be as straightforward as:
- Participating in a 60-minute risk workshop
- Identifying the top three assumptions underlying the current strategy and evaluating what might happen if one is invalid
- Discussing one significant emerging risk during each executive meeting
- Reviewing the organization’s largest external dependencies
- Participating in a tabletop exercise focused on a strategic disruption scenario
By making the request specific, practical, and limited in scope, executives are more likely to engage. Once leaders experience meaningful risk discussions and see their value, broader support for ERM often follows naturally.
The Special Sauce
Following Monroe’s Motivated Sequence is often necessary for effective persuasion — but it is not sufficient.
Research suggests that two additional elements strengthen persuasion:
- Preparedness
- Passion
When audiences see you as prepared — supported by facts, data, and expertise — and passionate about the opportunity, they are more likely to support your recommendations.
For ERM leaders, these qualities are especially important because they are often asking executives to devote attention to issues that have not yet occurred.
The most effective ERM professionals combine credible analysis with a genuine belief that better risk conversations lead to better strategic outcomes.
Resources
Recommended Viewing
Simon Sinek TED Talk: How great leaders inspire action.Â
Recommended Reading
Cialdini, R., & Cialdini, R. B. (2013). Influence: Science and practice. BoD–Books on Demand.
Lewis, M. (2016). The undoing project: A friendship that changed the world. London:Â Penguin.Â
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About the Author
Jeffrey M. Pollack is the Lynn T. Clark II Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship in the Poole College of Management at NC State University. His teaching and research focus on entrepreneurship and the psychological factors that influence new venture creation and organizational performance. He is the incoming Editor-in-Chief of Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. Over the past two decades, he has accumulated entrepreneurial experience ranging from working in family-owned businesses to buying, selling, and investing in companies. These experiences inform both his research and teaching. Contact Jeff at [email protected].
