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Creating a Life of Opportunity

Life without opportunities is dull and unfulfilling. Lost opportunities discourage; lack of opportunities defeat.

We’ve all heard people wishing they had more opportunities. This happens for two reasons.

1. Comparing our opportunities with others makes us want what others have. Envy and greed are, however, partners with emptiness and frustration.
2. Wrong-headed thinking about opportunities. Opportunities are not primarily about getting.

Getting is the result of opportunity not the opportunity itself.

Definition:

Opportunities are your chance to add value before receiving benefit.

You have more opportunities than you can imagine because opportunities are about giving. The more value you add, the greater the opportunity.

Confession:

Dark, greedy selfishness lurks in my heart, alongside generosity. I worry about giving too much and what I’ll get in return. I have two responses to my darkness.

1. Be generous anyway. I call it acting otherwise.
2. Experience shows the richness of adding value exceeds the narrowness of greed and envy.

Bottom Line:

The simple act of giving results in richness.

Adding value creates opportunity.

2012 Challenge:

Create a life of opportunity by thinking first of what you give rather than what you get. Worry less about getting and more about adding value.

Be generous and see what happens.

Resources:

Books that will help you build a life of opportunity.

Go Givers by Bob Burg

Leadership is Dead by Jeremie Kubicek

QBQ! The Question Behind the Question by John G. Miller

All Hands on Deck by Joe Tye

**********

How can individuals create a life of opportunity?

Bring your year end to a definite conclusion and start 2012 with a clear direction. (Why wouldn’t you?)

Myself and Mrs. Fox sit down every year about this time with a glass of sherry and a mince pie and run through the following ‘completion exercise’. In doing so we have tied up and reflected on our last year, giving consideration to accomplishments and setting the tone for what lies ahead. It’s actually really rewarding and quite pleasant!:

• What did I accomplish both personally and professionally? (Everything counts from landing business deals to surviving another year as a parent with everyone intact!)
• What difficulties did I have to overcome to realise those accomplishments?
• What qualities and strengths did I evoke to handle those difficulties?
• Given all the above what is now possible for me this next year?  (Your 12 month personal and professional goals)

All the very best for an extra-ordinary 2012.

Paul

Everyone's heard of resistance training right? You get on a machine in the gym, load it with with weights and will your muscles to move the stack.

The resistance of the load  is what make  your muscles scream in objection, break down and ultimately repair and become stronger.

Resistance to you and your ideas also develops your leadership muscle and diplomacy qualities.

You really, really want people around you who resist  you and your ideas - and force you to grow. The alternative? Folks who just roll over and never challenge you. Worse still, your team nod their heads in agreement... and then bugger off and do their own thing regardless.

Hmmm, hang on a minute. So your team never or rarely push back and resist you? That's because:

• They believe its not worth the effort. (To convince you and you then do your own thing regardless of the effort and courage it took them to speak up)
• They are too scared to 'rock the boat'. (Once your team stop bringing you problems and issues you've lost leadership)
• They are pushing (for now) just you can't hear it because of your busyness or attachment to your way.
• You are not pushing hard enough and no one is feeling the need to resist.

Force is good. Force as a force for good not as a force for ego. Make it your business to know the difference.

I'm not talking about the self interest that manipulates power so you win and everyone else loses - we'll leave that to some of our politician friends...

The pursuit of self knowledge in continually crystallising your understanding of your inherent skills, values, natural abilities, interests, style and goals is the holy grail that is worth pursuing with the determination of Indiana Jones.

Self interest pursued to a conclusion produces worthwhile  intelligence:

I'm most skilled at... ?

I struggle with and should avoid tasks such as... because I have reached my ceiling of capability ?

My key natural abilities are... ?

The style I best respond to in a boss is... ?

My authentic style that gets me my best results and makes me most happiest is... ?

What 'I value' that gets me out of bed in the morning and gives me energy. My values are...?

How did you do in effortlessly producing answers to the above?

Simple but not necessarily easy!

I have found in my work that people who can answer the above... tend to be those who are most content, at peace, happiest  and fulfilled. Sounds like a worthwhile project and it's one of my works in progress.

I've been doing some powerful work with senior teams having them jointly and openly conclude the answers to the above. The experience switches on lights in how to get the most out of each other and how to leverage the uniqueness of the individual abilities for the benefit of the unit.

Words people/clients used in a follow up review to our main session that utilised DISC profiling:

"Powerful, extremely useful, practical, insightful, high impact, switched on multiple lights."

It's not because I'm claiming to be super clever or anything like that - I just know that most Top teams or Boards are operating way below their capability and it's not that complicated to raise the bar through some great conversations.

Self Interest is Power.