“透视领导力”是一个在线社区，商业界最有思想也最具影响力的大咖会在此及时回答有关职场和领导力的问题。今天的问题是，“今天你会给22岁的自己哪些建议？”回答者是雅虎首席营收官丽莎·乌兹施耐德。

我刚进广告销售行业时是初级客户经理，当时年轻的我非常渴望提升业务。这些年来，我尝试过许多不同的职位，涉及领域包括策略、运营和提升收入等。不仅收获了丰富的经验，我也学会感激曾经面临的挑战，为实现目标寻找创造性的思路。但这条路绝不轻松，也绝非平坦。

以下是我历经艰难小结的四个心得，真希望年轻时能早点领悟：

知道什么时候该冒险

职业生涯中总有些决定要提前想清楚风险，不管风险大还是小。而且这种时刻总会有人凑上来，对你的下一步指手画脚。要学会勇敢承担风险，别去理会怀疑的声音，相信自己的直觉，这是职业发展非常重要的一块。

但也得承认，高风险确实容易让人心生畏惧。

在微软时，一位前同事联系了我，鼓励我去亚马逊争取新的全球副总裁职位。当时我正怀着第一个孩子，并没考虑跳槽。同事和朋友们都说，不管从个人角度还是对职业生涯风险都太大。甚至还有人说，我居然会考虑，简直是疯了。

但我终究还是冒了险。不过这次跳槽后我有机会组建全球性团队，尝试从零开始开展一项业务。我还明白不理会怀疑，重新理清职业生涯的重心是多么关键。

机会青睐有准备的人

问问自己：“如果出席重要会议忘带笔记本电脑，你能不能不看材料直接开讲？”

出现意外情况，例如技术故障或其他困难时，知识和准备往往决定着成败。大多数人至少会经历过一次类似场面，从此我们会明白扎实掌握业务有多重要。无论要准备的是内部会议、客户推介还是上台发言，都应该多想一步，确保脑中思路清晰，准备好回答各种问题，不能依赖PPT。

给人留下深刻印象

如果职业生涯刚刚开始，或者走上一个新岗位，大家也许想知道怎样给老板和其他领导留下好印象。不管规模大小有何使命，所有企业都需要有人解决问题。

是否注意过公司某些方面的运转效率没达到应有水平，或者有可能给客户更好的体验呢？如果有，思考一下具体可以怎么改进，然后跟上司谈谈你的想法。

有可能你对公司文化和促进多样性充满热情，但并不是你的工作内容。我们销售团队有一位高级总监主管视频广告，工作之余她还非常热心地为促进多样化贡献才能和精力。现在她成了全球包容多元化主管，确保公司不仅聘请各种各样的人才，还能留住他们，对服务全球逾10亿用户的亚马逊来说这点很关键。

如果帮助公司实现改进而且坚持不懈努力，领导就会记住你。更重要的是，下次遇到问题时他们有可能会问问你的意见。（财富中文网）

作者：Lisa Utzschneider

译者：Charlie

The Leadership Insiders network is an online community where the most thoughtful and influential people in business contribute answers to timely questions about careers and leadership. Today’s answer to the question, “What advice would you give your 22 year old self today?” is written by Lisa Utzschneider, chief revenue officer at Yahoo.

When I started my career in advertising sales as an entry-level account manager, I was eager and wanted to learn as much as possible about the business. Over the years, I have held many different roles focusing on areas such as strategy, operations, and driving revenue. This rewarding experience has taught me to appreciate a challenge and look for a creative approach to reach my goals. But this was never an easy or straight path.

Here are three important things I learned the hard way, and wish I could have told my younger self ahead of time:

Know when to take a risk

Throughout your career there will be countless moments, both big and small, when you need to weigh the risks of taking action. You can also bet that at these times, people will step up to voice their opinions on what you should do. Learning to be comfortable with taking risks, tuning out the naysayers, and trusting your instincts is an important part of your career growth.

But let's admit it: Taking a big risk can be terrifying.

While at Microsoft, I was contacted by a former colleague who encouraged me to explore a new global vice president role at Amazon. At the time, I was expecting our first child and wasn’t looking for a career change. Colleagues and friends said there were too many risks, both personally and professionally. Some said I was crazy to even consider it.

I took the risk anyway. In doing so, I had the chance to build a global team and business from the ground up. I also learned just how critical it is to tune out the skeptics and redefined what really mattered in my career.

It's all in the preparation

Ask yourself, “If you showed up to an important meeting without your laptop, would you know your material well enough to forge ahead?”

Knowledge and preparation can often make or break you in these moments, when a technical glitch or other pitfall arises. Most of us experience at least one situation like this, and it’s a good reminder of how important knowing your subject matter really is. Whether you’re planning for an internal meeting, client presentation, or on-stage talk, take a step back and make sure you have a clear agenda in mind and are ready to answer questions, with or without your PowerPoint presentation.

Leave a lasting impression

If it’s early on in your career or you’re new to a role, you may be wondering how to make an impression on your boss and other leaders at your company. Every business, no matter the size or mission, needs problem solvers.

Have you noticed an area of the business that just isn’t working as efficiently as it should, or an experience that could be better for your customers? If so, consider what could be improved and share your ideas with your superiors.

Perhaps you're passionate about culture and promoting diversity, but it's not in your job title. We had a senior director on our sales team who was focused on video advertising, but also felt moved to apply her talents and dedication to the area of diversity. She is now our global head of inclusive diversity, ensuring that we not only recruit but retain diverse talent—a critical part of serving our over one billion users around the globe.

When you help your company effect real change and do this frequently, leadership will remember you. And even more importantly, they may seek your opinion when the next challenge comes up.