Benjamin Disraeli

How to seek and find opportunity

opportunity trainThe only door knocking you will hear from opportunity is the rattling of the train of success as it passes by. Opportunity doesn’t wait till you are ready, it’s here and gone. Only those that are in a position to grab hold of it get to ride it to success.

“One secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.” – Benjamin Disraeli

Seek out opportunity, don’t wait for it to come and get you – it won’t.

Here are the 4 steps to successfully seek and find opportunity:

1 – Trains have a sign that tells you where they are heading so you know which one to board – the train that takes you to your destination. This means that sometimes you are letting other trains pass you by as you wait for the right one. There are many opportunities in life – not all are equal. You need a dream of success in your mind at all times to recognize the right opportunity when it comes. Only grab hold of the opportunities that bring you closer to your dream.

“Learn to say no to the good so you can say yes to the best.” ­­– John Maxwell

2 – Trains leave from the train station. If you want to catch a train, you get to the station – sounds simple.   In the same way, opportunity comes where it wants to, not where you wish it would. Now that you have a dream of success clearly pictured in your mind, you should get to the place where your dream happens. If you want to be a professional musician – join a local band. If you want to be a writer – start writing and connect with other writers. If you want to be pastor – volunteer at your church. If you want to be a doctor – study hard and get good grades so you might qualify for medical school. Place yourself where the opportunity that brings you closer to your dream is likely to be.

“Sometimes opportunities float right past your nose. Work hard, apply yourself, and be ready. When an opportunity comes you can grab it.” – Julie Andrews

3 – Trains leave at fixed times, from specific platforms and require the right ticket to board. When the right train comes you need to be prepared for all three of these. Do the work that needs to be done to prepare for when the opportunity comes that will lead you to your dream.

“The meeting of preparation with opportunity generates the offspring we call luck.” – Tony Robbins

I have heard it said that successful people seem to be in the right place at the right time. I find that lots of other people were in the same place and weren’t as successful – why? They didn’t recognize the opportunity because they didn’t have a picture of their dream or a plan to take action when it came.

 

Communicating as a leader

art of communicationDo you have to be good at communicating to be a successful leader? The simple answer is yes you do.  When asked about the importance of communication in leadership here is what a few past leaders had to say:

Gilbert Amelio, a pioneer in the U.S. technology industry and former President and CEO of National Semiconductor Corp. said, “Developing excellent communication skills is absolutely essential to effective leadership.”

Author and former presidential speech writer James Humes answered the question succinctly when he said, “The art of communication is the language of leadership.”

And Lee Iacocca, former Chrysler CEO said, “You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can’t get them across, your ideas won’t get you anywhere.”

So you are a leader or you want to be a leader someday but you have trouble communicating.  Can a person who has trouble communicating be a leader?  Again the simple answer is yes you can.

Listed below are the four areas that all great communicators focus on.  Learn them and you will be successfully communicating as a leader.

Communicating with a purpose. Can you summarize the purpose of your message in one sentence?  If you can’t, then your audience won’t understand the main point.  You have heard some speakers say, “If you only take away one thing this is it…”  Before you start any form of communication you have to know the purpose.  It’s like Stephen Covey said, “Start with the end in mind.”

The purpose of communication is always to elicit an emotional response meant to inspire action.

That action may be very short term, like getting a laugh or tugging at the heart.  The action could be longer term like embarking on the first step of a life changing journey.

Knowing the purpose of your communication is foundational if you want to communicate like a leader.

Communicating with a plan. Now that you clearly defined the purpose of your communication it’s time to plan how you will accomplish that purpose.

Here a few keys to include in your plan:

Be an expert in the facts before you share the facts. This is not a new concept.  First century Greek philosopher Epictetus said, “First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak.“

Carefully select your words.  As Mark Twain said, “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug.”

Entertain, encourage, and end on time. Not only will the current audience appreciate you, they might also be a future audience.  The great British leader Benjamin Disraeli had advice for communicators: “Be amusing: never tell unkind stories; above all, never tell long ones.”

Communicating with practice.  Once you have your purpose and plan, it’s time to practice. The more you communicate the better you will get. According to master communicator Brian Tracy, “Communication is a skill like riding a bicycle or typing. If you’re willing to work at it, you can rapidly improve the quality of every part of your life”

Even after communicating as a leader myself for over twenty-five years, I never step in front of an audience without reviewing and practicing what I am going to communicate.

Communicating with passion Your communication is not complete unless the people who heard it feel enlightened, equipped, and energized to do something with your message right now. 

If you want your audience to have passion about your message then you need to have passion about your message first.  You may be an expert in the facts, but are you committed to the message.  Do you believe it? More importantly do you live it?

Jim Rohn said it like this, “Effective communication is 20% what you know and 80% how you feel about what you know.”

 

The Best Leaders Are The Ones With The Best Information

knowledge is powerBenjamin Disraeli was a prominent member of the British government during the 1800s. He served in leadership positions for three decades including twice as prime minister. Disraeli said:

“The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes…The more extensive a man’s knowledge of what has been done, the greater will be his power of knowing what to do.”

In order for you to be a success as a leader you need to understand the conditions in and around your team:

  • What internal and external pressures HAS the team faced in the past?
  • What internal and external pressures IS the team facing now?
  • What internal and external pressures WILL the team face in the future?

Once you’ve obtained that knowledge – use it to enthusiastically go after your goals.

In my book, The Leadership GPS, Brian Alden learns the three step process to gain understanding and knowledge, and uses it to achieve success.

1) Look for information that already exists in books, surveys, or websites. This is a great place to learn what did happen and what is happening.

2) Listen to people with information gained through experience. Talk to your team, your boss, experts in the industry.

3) Learn what people need by analyzing the two together. Make a decision on how you will achieve your goals now that you understand the conditions.

The information you gather by looking, listening, and learning will be that on which you base all future steps to successful leadership.

The ABC’s of Successful Leaders: Get The Best Information

Benjamin Disraeli was a prominent member of the British government during the 1800s. He served in leadership positions for three decades including twice as prime minister. Disraeli said:

“The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes…The more extensive a man’s knowledge of what has been done, the greater will be his power of knowing what to do.”

In order for you to be a success as a leader you need to understand the conditions in and around your team.

A) What internal and external pressures HAS the team faced in the past?

B) What internal and external pressures IS the team facing now?

C) What internal and external pressures WILL the team face in the future?

Here is the process to gain that understanding:

A) Look for information that already exists in books, surveys, or websites – This is a great place to learn what did happen and what is happening

B) Listen to people with information gained through experience -Talk to your team, your boss, experts in the industry

C) Learn what people need by analyzing the two together – Decide how you will achieve your goals now that you understand the conditions

The information you gather by looking, listening, and learning will be that on which you base all future steps to successful leadership.

 

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