Chapter 5
GRAB OPPORTUNITIES TO GROW
The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
To bring your hopes home, you will have to keep a vigilant watch and grab opportunities that come your way. You’ve already developed an eagle’s eye to focus on your hopes and transform many seemingly dead-end situations into beneficial pathways. In this chapter, we will look at three core ways of being and doing that will help you to express your talent and realize your hopes. Let’s have a preview.
Be open to opportunities. Does this sound too simple? You will be surprised at how many opportunities you miss simply because you don’t notice them. When you look at the world with fresh eyes, you will see what you did not see before.
Develop the inner qualities that will help you get to where you want to go. You’ll see which qualities serve you best, which qualities you may wish to enhance, and which qualities you may like to engage in others to bring your talent into its fullest power.
Expand your use of resources to help you move forward. We have all felt, “I just don’t have the resources to accomplish what I want.” Accessing resources is a lot easier than it may appear, and we will guide you to find the precise resources you need to make things happen.
BE OPEN TO OPPORTUNITIES
Everyone likes to look good and feel that he or she is on top of his or her game. Having confidence is a sign of a healthy ego and strong self-esteem. To grow, though, we also need to reach out and acknowledge what we don’t know, explore new ideas, and try mastering new skills. This isn’t a simple, effortless endeavor. It requires openness.
To understand the importance of openness, let’s take a quick look at the research. Carol Dweck, a psychology professor at Stanford University, has spent decades examining what drives people and what determines their achievement levels. In her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, she concludes that humans have two basic approaches to life.1 One she calls a “fixed mindset,” which views intelligence and talent as preset and finite. When people subscribe to this view, they might say, “I’ve got what I’ve got, and nothing will change.” In many respects, they apply the limitations of physical attributes to their talent. “I can’t grow taller, so why should I think that I can make significant increases in my talent?”
In contrast, when people have a “growth mindset,” they view intelligence and talent as something they can increase. They can learn new ideas, develop new skills, and benefit from watching others who are successful. They aren’t stuck. They can change their talent story through mastery of new areas.
Let’s look at these different views as they relate to opportunities to grow your talent. Figure 4 provides our interpretation of the contrasts between a fixed mind-set and a growth mind-set as they relate to talent.
Which frame of mind describes your predominant outlook about your talent at this time? Maybe you are in the middle — holding some beliefs as fixed and others as growth. Can you recognize yourself anywhere in figure 4?
If you have adopted the belief, as part of a fixed view about your talent, that you can’t do certain things, that you are not worthy of aspiring to some better opportunity, or that you are incapable, you are not very likely to see the universe as a place with abundant opportunities.
Figure 4. Contrasting mind-sets about talent.
On the other hand, even if you feel that you are a long way off from where you want to be in expressing your talent, when you have an open mind about your abilities, you have the impetus to learn and move forward.
In an organization whose leadership exhibits a dominant fixed mind-set, people in lower-level jobs are destined to stay there and are rarely consulted for their opinions or contributions. At the same time, upper levels become so consumed with producing great results in the short term and maintaining image and status that they run the risk of distorting facts or ignoring realities until the organization suffers.
Many of us develop a fixed mind-set because at some point it served a purpose. It may have helped us to make sense of the world, helped us to get important needs met, and protected us from perceived threats. However, if you want to take charge of your talent fully, holding on to this worldview will be costly. It will keep you stuck in a story about limitations rather than free you to create a story full of possibilities.
Cultivating openness to growth can strengthen the cycle of hopes, opportunities, and actions in rewarding ways. Anything that engages the brain in learning can open up exciting new and unexpected opportunities. People engaged in growth and learning are more likely not only to achieve success but also to enjoy their success.
What if you discover that you have a fixed mind-set when it comes to your talent? Is it possible to change? Sure it is. When you’re ready to find new avenues to express your talent, cultivating openness to growth will help you to cut the path. Let’s take a look at Jesse, who shifted his mind-set.
Jesse thought his talent story was set. He’d had a very satisfying career. In his twenty-nine years with the financial services company, he had risen steadily up the ladder to the level of vice president and had found his work pretty easy. Now, at age fifty-eight, he had nowhere to go, unless the senior VP died or retired. As he waited to reach his magic retirement number, he was the envy of many of his friends. But for Jesse the thrill was gone. Every day, he put a smile on his face, did his eight to ten hours, and caught the train back home.
After a routine staff meeting, a young intern approached Jesse and asked if she could have a few minutes of his time. She requested permission to offer a yoga class over the lunch hour. Before he had a chance to respond, she opened her portfolio and pulled out an article about a British study that enumerated the positive effects of exercise at work. The study showed how workday exercise improved job performance and employee engagement while decreasing absenteeism.
The intern’s passion about taking on this new initiative moved Jesse. He referred her to the person who could help make it happen.
When Jesse returned to his office, he felt really low. A young, enthusiastic intern had asked to start a new program in her department. She was so full of energy that it caused Jesse to notice his own lack of energy at work. This young intern had her whole career ahead of her, and here he was counting the days until retirement, with little to look forward to. Jesse wasn’t sure why all this was hitting him so hard, but it was.
The intern possessed two things that Jesse sorely lacked: openness to growth and enthusiasm. Later, when he thought about where fixed views had blocked his thinking, Jesse laughed. He reflected, “Wow, many areas feel fixed: my role at the office, the idea of retirement, even my political views and my belief that nothing is likely to change.”
This was Jesse’s aha! moment. He realized that it was time to make fresh plans for the next ten years of his life. A new hope arose in him. He kept the intern’s article about yoga on his credenza as a reminder of the openness to growth and enthusiasm he wanted to regain.
You can follow the simple recipe that Jesse used to assess your frame of mind and shift from a preset view to openness for growth.
Recipe for Growth
1. Observe your thought patterns. In any moment, notice what you are thinking. Are you open to growth at that moment or not? Notice when you have a fixed outlook and things seem unchangeable and stuck. Can you tweak your perspective? How would the same situation look if you were open to change and willing to grow?
2. Question what feels fixed. In your current situation, does anything feel fixed? Where do options feel shut off or opportunities feel limited? Now that you have the awareness that you can find a new perspective, do you see ways to create opportunities or follow leads that may open new doors?
3. Keep a reminder that inspires you to be open. What image, object, or experience gives you a sense of openness? Use pictures or actions to remind you. One woman cut out words and phrases from magazines and collected them on a board — words like shift, stretch, and go for it. Another person did the same thing, but with the words trailing across his screen saver. One man kept a photo from his greatest rock climb on his desk. Another woman had an inspiring card her friend had given her in a holder on her desk. Another person set her watch alarm to vibrate every hour, using this to remind herself to check in and see if she was in an open frame of mind.
DEVELOP YOUR INNER QUALITIES — IQS YOU CAN BOOST
Before you leap into action, think about how you want to be when you act. Whether you realize it or not, your being-ness drives everything you do. That’s right. You will go far when you realize this and link the being of talent development with the doing.
The being of talent development draws upon your inner qualities—or, as we call them, your IQs. Your inner qualities include aspects like curiosity, passion, assertiveness, authenticity, vulnerability, generosity, grace, and respect.
Why are your inner qualities important? They inevitably influence your external actions. For example, think how the expression of different inner qualities would affect the following situations: you address a group of coworkers with passion or hard logic; you approach a conflict with your boss with self-righteousness or compassion; or you attend a training session with vitality or lethargy. As you can imagine, each of the inherent IQs in these scenarios has a profound impact on the results that your actions produce.
Inner qualities are like the rhythm of a song. You need the rhythm to match the melody. If the rhythm is off, it doesn’t matter what the melody or message is. The song won’t be compelling and captivate others.
Developing your inner qualities will help your talent find its voice. This came through loud and clear in Ranjit’s story. Ranjit’s Talent Catalyst Conversation began with a focus on his work life, but it soon turned to the subject of his family. His second child was due in a month, and his anxiety was growing daily. He hoped to have a wonderful family life, as well as career, and wanted to be a good husband and father. The truth was, he was already concerned that he was neglecting his wife and spending most of his time focused on his young daughter and work. What was going to happen when a second child appeared? He feared that he’d become sleep deprived and that his daughter would feel neglected. He wasn’t sure if he could meet his wife’s needs and the demands at work.
Ranjit stepped back and considered what inner qualities he would need to succeed. He looked at how he was being at home and what was driving his anxiety; he realized that he was being the “fixer,” both at work and at home. Everyone went to him to get things fixed. Suddenly, the lightbulb went on. He was already struggling to fix everything at home—to make sure that everything was working and everyone was happy. With the new baby coming, he was afraid that he would be completely overwhelmed.
Ranjit reviewed the Inner Quality Checklist below to see if he could identify alternative ways of being that would allow him to free up his talent as a father, husband, and employee. Here are the three IQs that resonated for him:
Curiosity
Compassion
Supportiveness
When Ranjit took the time to look these over, he had another realization: “When I’m being the fixer, I’m always looking for things that are broken. I’ll stop doing everything else if there’s something to fix. I think that’s one way my daughter gets my attention. She stirs up trouble, and I fix it. If I were to be curious and compassionate with her, I’d certainly see things differently. And I am really curious to see how my daughter responds. I could go from being the fixer to being the learner—learning from my little daughter and my wife every chance I get. It’s exciting to think of what I might see that I didn’t see before, and it could be a breath of fresh air for our family.”
The more Ranjit practiced at home, the more he found himself embodying those inner qualities at work. When he didn’t immediately leap in and try to fix everything for his coworkers, they started to take more responsibility. They also felt more respected by Ranjit because he took an interest in them and their work. The team worked together more effectively. They were singing a new tune together. Ranjit boosted the IQs that really mattered—the inner qualities he needed for success at home and at work.
Now it’s your turn. What inner qualities will you need to nurture in order to realize the hopes you have for your talent?
We’ve put together a list of IQs in six categories for you to consider as you move forward. Remember, this is just an outline. You may want to jot down more qualities that you’d like to add to the list. Here’s how we suggest you approach this exercise:
1. Go through the entire list and mark those inner qualities that will be the most important for you to realize your particular hopes at this time.
2. Add any additional qualities to the list that you feel are important to realizing your hopes.
3. While you could mark many, if not all, of the IQs, see if you can identify the three or four that are the most critical for your success.
The Inner Qualities Checklist
Head — Mental Processes
Wise: |
Use intelligence with a big-picture view |
Curious: |
Approach the world with wonder and the love of learning |
Focused: |
Stay on task and free from distractions |
Mindful: |
Be present to the opportunities at every moment |
Heart — Emotional Processes |
|
Compassionate: |
Recognize and care about others’ feelings and needs |
Generous: |
Give and receive freely |
Passionate: |
Care deeply and lovingly about an idea, person, or activity |
Vulnerable: |
Allow others to make a difference to me |
Health — Physical Processes |
|
Vital: |
Feel alive and energetic |
Graceful: |
Dance with difficulties and challenges |
Joyful: |
Appreciate life with a smile on my face |
Peaceful: |
Maintain balance without undue stress |
Ingenuity |
|
Creative: |
Use resources inventively |
Inspired: |
Engage stories, values, and people that move me |
Unconventional: |
Examine limiting assumptions |
Visionary: |
See and communicate possibilities for the future |
Relationships |
|
Authentic: |
Behave in an open and honest manner |
Respectful: |
|
Supportive: |
Actively help others succeed |
Gracious: |
Acknowledge others and accept acknowledgment |
Strength |
|
Assertive: |
Meet my needs without aggression |
Courageous: |
Take action in the face of adversity |
Faithful: |
Remain true to my values |
Promotional: |
Communicate benefits effectively to a community |
Other possible IQs might include patient, collaborative, trusting, trustworthy, energized, flexible, light, fun, fresh, playful, serious, attentive, organized, in touch, adult, sober, persistent, and so on.
Once you have identified several important inner qualities, what can you do with them? Some of the critical IQs you’ve highlighted may already be great strengths and tremendous resources for you. You’ll certainly want to use them in your action plan. But what about the inner qualities that you know need more attention and development?
Remember that Ranjit picked three IQs that he wanted to develop: curiosity, compassion, and supportiveness. He wasn’t asking himself to be someone he was not. He possessed all of those qualities. He just needed to allow them to come to the fore and make them a priority.
You can access and embody the critical IQs that you need to realize your hopes. Here are some approaches:
Observe and model. Seek out the people who best represent the way you want to be. If you pick “authentic,” observe the authentic people you admire and then model the quality for others around you.
Prepare and remind. Before you go into an important meeting, choose the IQ you most want to embody. If you pick “patient,” write it on a pad in front of you to keep as a constant reminder.
Learn and practice. For instance, if you want to be more “assertive,” read books and articles, watch online videos, or attend workshops on the subject. Then put what you learn into a daily practice to build your assertive character.
Enlist and tap others. If you don’t have a sufficient amount of a critical inner quality, enlist others who do. For example, if assertiveness just isn’t in your makeup, ask someone to advocate on your behalf.
As you develop and express your critical IQs and enlist others to support them, you will attract more of the opportunities that align with your hopes. It is true that people respond to the way you dress, your physicality, and other external qualities, but they will respond even more powerfully to your IQs. Check out this idea for yourself. Who are the most attractive people in your organization — not necessarily physically attractive but charismatic, admirable, worthy of trust, or in some way fascinating? What do you find attractive about them? How much of what makes them attractive arises from their positive IQs? Do you also notice that when they acknowledge inner qualities where they need help, their candor and vulnerability make them even more attractive?
Consider again one of the questions in the Talent Catalyst Conversation: “How will you need to grow, and what will you need to learn to address your concerns and realize your hopes?” How would you answer that question right now about the inner qualities you wish to strengthen?
EXPAND YOUR RESOURCES, MAXIMIZE YOUR OPPORTUNITIES
Everything any of us has ever accomplished has been through the use of resources. After you identify the resources you need and put them to use, you’ll find it easier to express your talent fully. And here’s a bit of good news: You may already have access to all the resources you need to realize your greatest hopes.
Thomas Edison knew how critical resources were. He kept a storeroom in his West Orange, New Jersey, laboratory filled with an odd assortment of materials he collected from his well-traveled friends. The workers in his lab—each hoping to achieve some breakthrough in a particular invention—were free to check out any of these resources to see how many uses they could find for each one and how different resources worked together in creative ways.
Wouldn’t it be amazing to have those kinds of resources available to you as you sought to realize your hopes? In fact, you do. They don’t just exist in one room or laboratory. They are the people, places, and things all around you. And they are simply waiting for you to check them out. With search engines, social media sites, and crowdsourcing, you have a resource laboratory with millions more resources than Edison enjoyed.
Here’s an approach we’ve used successfully to help people tap the resources they need. It focuses on how to expand your list of resources, use valuable ones more intensively, and create something new from fresh connections. Use each of the elements individually or collectively for maximum effect. We’ll describe the approach first and then give you a concrete example of how it worked successfully.
Your Resource Power-Up
1. 100 Resource Challenge (list your resources and keep adding to them). Most people underestimate their resources. Now’s your time to get reconnected to them. Remember, your resources can be people, places, and things. With this challenge, you gradually grow your resource treasures until you have all you need and more. Try listing all the ones you can think of and then adding one more each day for ninety days. By the time you get to one hundred (or much sooner), you will either have achieved your objective or be well on your way.
2. 100 Percent Resource Usage Challenge (get the most from each resource). Remember when a phone was just a phone? Now you have a phone that is a memo pad, camera, game platform, computer, and more. Go through your growing list of resources and check to see if you’re using everything they can provide. Target your most promising resources, and ask yourself what it would take to feel like you are getting 100 percent from that resource. By the time you feel like you are getting 100 percent from ten of your resources, you will either have achieved your objective or be well on your way.
3. Resource Mash-Up (connect available resources). A mash-up is a creative combination or mixing of content from different sources to create a new element. Whether in music, film, or software applications, mash-ups are great ways to discover new possibilities in existing resources. With this exercise, you get to connect available resources. Rather than starting from scratch, put together available components and quickly achieve results. Once a week, pick any obstacle to realizing your hope and see if a mash-up can help you to break the logjam. You can pick several resources at random and see how combining them might create something unanticipated and useful. Invite others to participate. They may see new combinations that you’re missing. When you’ve done this successfully five or six times, you will have a powerful awareness of the possibilities around you.
Here’s an example. Kim was a rising star who wanted to break through the glass ceiling of leadership in her profession. In her Talent Catalyst Conversation, Kim explored ideas about how to expand her effectiveness through compelling presentations to large audiences. She had an opportunity coming up to give a twenty-minute inspirational speech titled “Women and Leadership: What Needs to Change?” Even though the presentation was three months away, Kim became increasingly nervous and distracted. She was to be the fourth speaker on the program following one corporate CEO and two academic researchers. She found herself doubting her ability to pull it off.
Kim decided to see if she could use her resources more effectively and make the presentation a smashing success. Here’s her use of the Resource Power-Up combination.
Kim’s Resource Power-Up
Step 1
100 Resource Challenge: List her resources and keep adding to them.
Personal story, PowerPoint, jokes, support team, computer, title of the program, business suit.
Each day for the next ten days she added one more resource to the list:
My notes, the lecture hall, microphone, search engine, new articles, the audience, questions, presentation coach, the other presenters, interpersonal communication skills.
Step 2
100 Percent Resource Usage Challenge: Get the most from each resource.
Support team … Could I be asking more from them? Let’s have a sixty-minute teleconference to get their ideas, feedback, and advice.
Previous speakers … Ask the speakers ahead of me to give me advance copies of their presentations so that I can create a fitting finale [idea from the support team meeting].
Microphone … I don’t need to be the only person in the room using a mic. I could pass it through the audience. This will open up more possibilities for audience participation and make the presentation more about them and less about me.
Lecture hall … The conversation does not need to end in the room. I can set up a LinkedIn group that members of the audience can join to continue the conversation and create a powerful network.
Step 3
Resource Mash-Up: Connect available resources.
Kim put four items in the mash-up: her own story, the material from the other presenters, the question in the conference’s title of “Women and Leadership: What Needs to Change?”, and the audience. She came up with a number of possibilities, but here’s the one she used.
Use my presentation time to (a) summarize what’s come before and (b) ask the audience a new question: “How do you need to change?” Work with the audience and their responses while weaving in my own story.
With this experience, Kim’s anxiety about her presentation turned into excitement. She learned a valuable lesson along the way: she had access to far more resources than she had ever imagined.
TALENT TAKEAWAY
In order to grab opportunities to grow, first you need to see them. To get there, you can choose an open frame of mind that will help you to succeed. As much as what you do is important, the inner qualities of who you are while doing these things will ultimately determine your effectiveness. With these elements in place, you can readily find and develop the resources needed to pursue attractive opportunities.
TAKE CHARGE
Tap these powerful exercises to keep you growing and your talent flowing:
Open yourself to grow. Try the Recipe for Growth to look for opportunities to grow, question what feels fixed, and challenge yourself to keep open. Use the Inner Quality Checklist to ensure that you are embodying your best qualities in order to attract and develop desirable opportunities.
Enjoy the Resource Power-Up to expand your resources, use them more effectively, and create potent combinations.