Kevin Spacey acted on Broadway in the 1980s, hit it big in Hollywood in the 1990s, and then surprised everyone by moving to London to become the director of the Old Vic theater. In 2013 he returned to the screen, producing and starring in Netflix’s first streaming series, House of Cards. Why all the unconventional career moves?  As he told a 2015 World Business Forum audience, “It’s the risk takers who are rewarded.” 

A version of this article appeared in the March 2016 issue (p.116) of Harvard Business Review.