When you think about seizing opportunities, do you first think of new business opportunities? I think most people do. After working with so many businesses, I think seizing opportunity is really about being proactive as a leader. Here are some of the ways you can seize more opportunities.
Last Friday, I was with a new client of mine and I called together the whole production team, about 10-12 people. I introduced myself as the new coach and then asked, “What could we do to get a little bit better? What things frustrate you? What is it that you can’t believe we’re not doing right now as a company?” I received a lot of great ideas, and the next day I had a conversation with some of the leadership about the ideas. I often meet with clients and have these types of conversations. As a leader, you have to seize the opportunity to get better, seize the opportunity to have a conversation, seize the opportunity to empower your people. Your team has thoughts, opinions, and ideas that could help your company grow.
Another opportunity to seize is leadership development. What are you doing to develop your leaders? I have a client that provides customer service to thousands of customers. We’re always talking about ways to improve their team and their customer relationships. How can you develop people within your leadership team and allow them to build their base of knowledge across the company? Are there new ventures you can pursue that allow your leaders to grow in new ways? Are you developing your emerging leaders? There’s an opportunity for you. Are you training people across multiple functions? That’s an opportunity.
We’ve talked about seizing people’s opinions, seizing opportunities to develop your people, seizing feedback. Now we’ll get around to business opportunities. What business ventures can we creatively think about? I have a client with over 5,000 customers, and they have a wonderful sense of trust in those relationships. So I’m asking the questions: How do we parlay this trust into more business? Can we take this trusted reputation and vet a trusted partner to have a revenue share venture with our customer base? What strategic alliances are available to us? What can we do in terms of benchmarking? What is the market doing across the country? Can we collaborate with non-competitors in the industry? Look at new business opportunities with the resources you have. You might be surprised by what is already available to you.
Seize the opportunity to be better. I hope this is helpful and causes you to be inspired to seize opportunities to take your business to the next level.
Seizing opportunities is one of four areas that business owners should focus on. Read about the other three.
–Jim Wiginton is the founder and managing partner of Broad Insights, an international business coaching firm based in Greenville, South Carolina. Jim possesses a wealth of business expertise, much of it gained as an executive for Michelin North America, Plastic Omnium, and Alfmeier Corporation. He has more than 5,000 hours of coaching experience, and a Doctorate of Business Administration from Paris School of Business.
by Bradley C