Opportunity, Every Day

Through experience at larger organizations, jumping to a start up, and then riding the subsequent growth wave and integration after acquisition into a mature organization has provided valuable lessons and opportunities. We've all read the Thomas Edison quote on opportunity, but I would take that a step further and say opportunity is disguised in casual, everyday interactions. The value you add when no one is asking for it is the differentiator. The preparation is what you do when no one is looking. I believe in being authentic, while being strategic.

1. Be authentic. Leading a project or a team isn't quite as simple as reading a book, making a post, or watching a TED Talk and rehashing those ideas vicariously. Find your style: Firewalker’s Guide to Leadership and own it. Differentiation breeds new ideas, challenges the status quo, and is needed in all organizations.
2. Have a vision and strategy to relentlessly stay focused on how to adapt and evolve on a broad scale. Learn to think big picture... which warrants it's own separate article, but in short, challenge your own thinking. Strategy is not a to-do list.
3. Ask thought provoking questions to get thoughtful answers. We live in a largely "me-centric" world, without the willingness to listen completely. Engaging in meaningful dialogue is often originated by simple, organic conversation. Everyone has something impactful to offer the world from a unique perspective. This is a long listen with one of my favorite authors, but there is great dialogue and Tim Ferris is a master at simple, thought provoking questions https://tim.blog/2018/03/25/daniel-pink/
4. Be prepared. It bares repeating, we've all read the Thomas Edison quote on opportunity, but I would take that a step further and say opportunity is disguised in casual, everyday interactions. The value you add when no one is asking for it is the differentiator. The preparation is what you do when no one is looking. I've been told countless times in countless scenarios that I was lucky or had a knack of being in the right place. If you have a strategy and an open eye, you might see the world differently.
5. Execute. If you build a strategy and structure, when a moment arises you will already be prepared to hit the ground running. Often times the biggest failure I eyewitness, including my own, comes from needing to shift gears and re-focus all of my energy to something I should’ve already developed content around. The idea of document don’t create is genius to someone like me, who constantly gathers ideas, but doesn’t always specifically capture those ideas. Document, don't create. Don't think too deeply about immediately formalizing those ideas, but capture your sparks of genius in a draft or a quick voice memo. Let those evolve as you continue to build your own content. When you really need quick hitting, valuable material, leverage this content and repurpose as necessary.

My parting comment channels the old ball coach in me. Follow through. After all, you cannot inspire others if you are not inspired yourself.