Analytical skills

No sports team ever wins by only playing defense — and that applies here, too. If risk managers look at how things affect the business as a whole, they might come up with a better way for their organization to operate. Part of a risk manager’s job is to see the big picture — and…

All the problem-solving skills in the world are useless if managers can’t rouse the troops. Risk managers need good people management and leadership skills to inspire and incentivize staff members. In some cases, risk management might require upsetting the apple cart, and managers need the respect of their team through the inevitable challenges.

After assembling a list of potential business risks, risk managers need to be able to do a risk assessment and then rank the likelihood and severity of each risk. They should create and regularly update a list that notes the most likely to least likely risks, as well as the most severe to least severe ones. This…

Risk managers need to know the potential cost of network outages and security breaches, as well as the likely financial impact of other business risks. Ultimately, financial risk will get everyone’s attention in the C-suite and individual departments. The costs of lost productivity, lost income and financial penalties can be crippling to a business if…

If there’s one thing governments do well, it’s regulating things. Regulations are constantly being added and updated. Risk managers must invest some of their time to stay up to date on all the changes and understand new and evolving regulatory requirements.

This goes hand in hand with the leadership skills. Risk managers must be able to build relationships — and not just with their immediate subordinates. They should also be able to do so with their superiors, as well as other corporate executives and department heads.