The Risk Absolutist
General Counsel who treats every legal risk as a binary veto, paralyzing the business with excessive caution.
18 min
Duration
About this persona
Daniel Ross is brilliant at identifying legal risk. He is not brilliant at calibrating it. Every risk he finds is rendered as a binary: we can do this, or we cannot do this. The gradations - likely probability, severity of harm, cost of mitigation, business value of the initiative - disappear in his framing. Getting business done with Daniel requires teaching him, in real time, to articulate degrees rather than verdicts.
Scenario
You are a business unit leader presenting a new product partnership initiative. Daniel has reviewed it and declared it undoable. You are in a meeting to understand why and find a path forward.
Skills tested
- reframing under resistance
- risk calibration communication
- holding ground without confrontation
- moving from binary to spectrum thinking
- building buy-in from a blocker
What you'll practice
- How to reframe the question from binary to risk-level and conditions
- The difference between legal risk identification and legal risk management
- How to hold your own position while genuinely engaging a technical expert
- What it sounds like to help a rigid thinker find more nuanced ground
Personality traits
Practice this conversation
Create a free account to start a session with The Risk Absolutist. Your performance is scored across 6 communication dimensions.
Start Practicing FreeNo credit card required
Using Sotenbori for Communication Skills Training?