"The Ansley Moment"

Opportunity of a lifetime, on national TV with millions of audience, in front of four demanding judges - eleven year old Ansley Burns was on "American's Got Talent"!

During her audition, Ansley was singing?Aretha Franklin’s “Think” in front of Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel, Gabrielle Union and?Julianne Hough. A few minutes into her performance, Simon Cowell stopped her mid-song and asked her to finish the song a cappella without the distraction of the “terrible” backing track.

“I remember feeling so nervous and scared in that moment Simon stopped my song,” Ansley said in a later interview. “My vocal coach always tells me ‘if you mess up just keep going.’ So I knew if I ran off that stage then my chance is blown.”

She looked momentarily caught off guard by the request, but Ansley took the challenge in stride. She had a sip of water, took a deep breath, another deep breath, collected herself and stepped up to the plate. She even cracked a humor to release some of the tension: "Ok, oh, that just happened!"

Here is the YouTube link for her performance without the music. She finished amazingly strong and the judges all voted “yes,” sending Ansley not only to the next round but all the way to the semifinals.

Have you ever been caught in an "Ansley Moment"?

You have been working furiously with your leadership team for a new product strategy, but a new regulation has completely changed the market dynamics; You thought you had done all the necessary leg work for a China market entry strategy but the new geopolitical dynamics have made you question many of the assumptions. At a personal level, you spent the long weekend to get ready for a management review but the message simply was not what management wanted to hear. You were having a presentation with a big audience in a conference, but technical glitches prevented you from seeing your slides.

I have experienced all of the above and many more. You never know when your perfectly developed plan might have to be put on the shelves due to all kinds of unexpected internal or external reasons, or when technology might fail you. You have to always expect the unexpected and be prepared for what comes next. Be adaptive and agile with strategic change and prioritize resources accordingly.

In the case of eleven year old Ansley, she was not just ready for the singing but more importantly ready to handle a seemingly disaster and made it an amazing event.

Be Ready When Opportunity Knocks

Being prepared for the unexpected can reduce fear, anxiety and potential losses associated with the unexpected events. More importantly, organization or individuals have to also always be ready to assess new opportunities during times of uncertainties and change.

In my new book The Odyssey of Self-Discovery: On Becoming A Leader, I cited the examples of how Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger took advantage of the opportunities bestowed upon them due to injuries of their respective main quarterbacks. Both of them obviously had the skills, but more importantly, they were able to take advantage of the opportunities because they stayed ready. Ben Roethlisberger became the youngest Super Bowl winning quarterback in NFL history at the age of twenty-three. Tom Brady went on an amazing run of ten Super Bowl appearances, resulting in seven championships in the subsequent two decades.

This is beautifully articulated by Winston Churchill, “To each, there comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing...what a tragedy if that moment finds them unprepared for that which could have been their finest hour.”

All organizations invest tremendous resources to establish the confidence for aspiring leaders to take on new responsibilities and grow into leaders. However, the world is becoming increasingly dynamic and unpredictable. The traditional business approach of strategy, planning, and execution is increasingly being challenged. As a result, leaders are required to be adaptive, agile, and nimble to cope with the seismic shifts. The traditional defined career path may not work anymore. Aspiring leaders today must remain nimble since navigating the unexpected is increasingly becoming the new normal.

Unfortunately, there are two different challenges to “being prepared.”

First of all, it is not always obvious what to prepare for. There is often no warning about our next position in the same organization or the next job. The median tenure for workers ages 25–34 is about 2.8 years. Instead of preparing for a specific job, aspiring leaders need to crystallize what it takes to maximize their potential, and what leadership means at a personal level. Those reflections can guide you to seek out and prepare for opportunities which are more aligned with your personal values and purpose.

The second challenge is the so-called “permission paradox” which was described in the book?The Five Patterns of Extraordinary Careers?almost twenty years ago (Citrin and Smith 2005). “You cannot get the experience without the job, yet you cannot get the job without the experience.” The “permission paradox” is a challenge facing many during their careers and can be a paralyzing obstacle to overcome for many aspiring leaders. The authors described some tactics in order to get out of the paradox by turning implied permission into direct permission and turning permission into action.

The authors also pointed out that, based on extensive work they did at Spencer Stuart, there is a limited number of life-changing opportunities in people’s working career. If taken full advantage of, those opportunities will posilively and dramatically change people’s career direction, as are the examples of Ben Roethlisberger and Tom Brady.

Furthermore, one must proactively seek out such opportunities, rather than simply waiting for the tap on the shoulder. In the case of Tom Brady, he took a significant risk in 2020 by leaving behind a system he knew well when it became clear the Patriots were moving in a different direction. Brady joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and lead them to a Super Bowl championship in 2021.

The ability to recognize opportunities when they present themselves is important, but opportunities are more likely to knock on the door of those who possess the mentality to seek them out.

#GetAhead?#leadership #decisionmaking #selfdiscovery #bestseller #newrelease

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