Where Are The Opportunity Leaders?

I sat straight up when I read that the co-founder and then CEO of Nike, Phil Knight, was having a hard time finding leaders who could seize opportunities. To my astonishment, the head of one of the world’s most iconic sports brands was having the very same problem that many of my clients were wrestling with.

This revelation led me back to a question that I has haunted me for a long time: where are the opportunity leaders? The leaders who see what others don’t. The leaders who discover what is possible for their business and have the ambition to go after it.

Leaders either see the world from today’s perspective or tomorrow’s, and with low or high possibility. So, to figure out who sits where, all we need to do is draw a chart. We label the x-axis as possibility, with low on the left and high on the right; and label the y-axis as time horizon—today being at the bottom of the axis and tomorrow at the top.

In the lower left quadrant are the low possibility thinkers who see from today’s perspective. They see it as it is. The high possibility thinkers who still see from today’s perspective (lower right quadrant), see it as it is, plus some. They’re the incremental improvement crowd.

The dangerous bunch are the ones who see from tomorrow’s perspective but with low possibility (upper left quadrant). They tell you why it can’t be done. I’m sure you’ve met a few people who reside there.

Opportunity thinkers are in the upper right quadrant. They see what’s possible and tell you what can be. Those are the leaders that Knight wanted.

In his biography, Shoe Dog, Knight tells of his encounter with Masaru Hayami, the president of Tokyo-based general trading company, Nissho Iwai. The Japanese firm had global business interests and was an early supporter of Knight’s company, Blue Ribbon Sports, which went on to become Nike in 1971. In the story, Knight recounts how Nissho Iwai brought his business back from the brink, after the banks—concerned by Knight’s lack of cash and continuous requests to borrow more funds—had shut Nike down.

The rest, as they say, is history. Over the years that followed, Nike’s popularity skyrocketed, leading the company to list on the NY stock exchange and making Knight a billionaire in the process. But even so, Knight still faced a perennial challenge.

Even at the height of its popularity, Nike was grappling with leadership issues. “We have so much opportunity, but we’re having a terrible time getting managers who can seize those opportunities,” he told Hayami. “We try people from the outside, but they fail, because our culture is so different.”

I hear similar concerns nearly every day from the CEOs I coach. “I want leaders who have courage and guts. Leaders who always see the opportunity and are willing to go after it,” they explain. These CEOs want opportunity leaders—individuals who are as courageous as they are. They want leaders who aren’t afraid of growth, real growth. They want leaders who see what can be.

In pursuit of that very goal, this is what Hayami told Knight: “See those bamboo trees up there?”

“Yes,” replied Knight.

“Next year…when you come…they will be a foot higher,” said Hayami.

Knight stared at the trees and he understood.

When he returned to the US, he got busy cultivating and growing his management team. He approached the task with patience, focusing on training and long-term planning. He didn't just listen to Hayami’s point, he did something about it.

The lesson is this: If it’s opportunity leaders you want, like Knight, you’re going to have to grow them. Your leaders can change. They can become opportunity leaders, but you’ll have to do the hard work of nurturing them.

Make cultivating opportunity leaders your priority. When you do, then and only then, will you see them grow a foot higher.

Printed originally in Gulf News (8 May 17)

?A thinker, speaker, and writer to the core, Dr. Tommy holds a doctorate in strategic leadership from Regent University, and is the founder of Emerging Markets Leadership Center (EMLC) where he is the region's leading CEO Coach. In addition to writing a number of books—including the Amazon #1 best-seller, Leadership Dubai Style and 10 Tips for Leading in the Middle East, Dr. Tommy is the editor-in-chief of Emerging Markets Business—The Authoritative Review.

Follow me on twitter @tommyweir or visit www.tommyweir.com for more of my thoughts on leadership.