For leaders, becoming more opportunistic is a primary mandate.
Leaders know that opportunities create personal and professional growth. Opportunities propel businesses and people forward, expanding insights, knowledge, and success. They are the very lynchpin of business development. As famed management expert Peter Drucker emphasized, we make the most progress when we exploit opportunities as opposed to solving problems.
Opportunities sometimes announce themselves, but are more often found through engagement. Because the greatest opportunities emerge with changes, large and small, leaders who take the time to understand the implications of any difference often see more possibilities. In fact, some of the greatest opportunities come about from the smallest of changes.
Think of it this way: Every time something changes (with people, through events, in the marketplace, in policy or regulations) opportunities present themselves. The best leaders maintain a constant lookout for opportunity by focusing on any change, no matter how seemingly insignificant, and what it might mean.
Seeing subtle changes or those that go unannounced is not always easy. Yet, that is where the gold is buried. For that reason, opportunistic leaders continually talk to others to learn what they are seeing and hearing, seek out new collaborations, and maintain a watchful eye on the actions of competitors, the government, and customers.
Of course, some opportunities are imagined or created through sheer will. The desire and chance to make a difference in yourself or others presents possibilities that otherwise can’t be seen. We make our own opportunities any time we follow our passion to create change rather than just reacting to it.
But whether creating change or responding to it, opportunities abound for those willing to dance with change and make it a partner in possibility. In the words of Helen Keller, “Often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.”
Leaders are always looking for the open door.
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