Leadership ➝ Part 3

I believe life is essentially about dealing with challenges and taking advantage of the opportunities that come from them. This is the third article on Leadership — how to create opportunity out of challenge. This is the most significant lesson I have learned in life.

In Leadership Part I, I offered observations on successful leadership highlighting the the goal of leadership is achievement, which is only measured by performance. In Leadership Part II, I observed the fuel for achievement is risk. Risk is unavoidable and must be managed so I offered the operational risk management model used by the military services as a good way to work through it. In this article, I want to offer what I believe is the secret to success in life—and that's creating opportunity out of challenge.

I have never been one who has to know the meaning of life. But I have always been intrigued about the struggles of people in life and certainly have experienced them myself. What I now know is that life is a fragile balance of many factors. In that balance comes tests that we take on knowingly or unconsciously. And it is through the trials of challenges where we actually experience growth. Said another way, we are all products and sometimes victims of our experiences.

“Experience is the teacher of all things.”

                                                                     —Julius Caesar 

Most of us tend to view challenges generally as positive or negative. When negative, we usually avoid or succumb to them. When positive, we usually embrace them or succeed. The realization I had was the compulsion to find positive outcomes in every challenge which became the hallmark of my success in life.

In reflection, my career as a football player and Naval Officer was a succession of challenges—obstacles to overcome and turn into opportunities. I actually looked forward to new challenges because they gave me new opportunities and with them, exhilaration, personal satisfaction and growth. For me, these define success. I discovered that I enjoyed challenging assignments because they offered variety and great sense of accomplishment when done well. This was the draw of being in the military besides the sheer excitement of flying premier jet fighters which was my office for more than twenty years from aircraft carriers around the world.

In time I came to appreciate that change was not good for its own sake but because change brought new challenges and I relished finding new opportunities in taking on a variety of different problems and finding solutions then moving on.

The What

In this struggle was the essence of being a leader—successfully getting things done. And in being a successful leader was the responsibility of having to deal with risk including taking it off the shoulders of those I was responsible for. But the secret of success was finding opportunities in new challenges. Most of it was admittedly mindset and having a positive emotional set point. If I dreaded the things that could and did go wrong I felt fear—fight or flight.

When I examined the issues and wondered where there was opportunity, not only did I enjoy the path to resolution but found that I grew as a professional and person and realized how much I gained, including happiness, as a result. Further, I used it as emotional contagion to get others to go along with me. I also learned it is important to acknowledge and learn to live with some fear of the uncertain which acts as a motivator. Some see it as is commonly noted in sports parlance—no pain, no gain. But I thought of it more from the perspective of worrying about those things I could control and not about those I couldn’t. As a result, I chose to think about things positively even when faced with incredible negativity, such as death, and I started to methodically inquire my way through challenge.

One of the methods that worked for me is found in the 21st Century Procter & Gamble selling model. I did not know it for what it was but it succinctly describes what I knew and works in any endeavor whether selling a solution, a product, yourself or an idea. In essence, it is:

• 40% of selling is TRUST – you have to establish yourself because people will not buy from anyone they do not trust
• 30% is understanding what your customers’ NEEDS are
• 20% is PRESENTATION of matching your product to your customers’ needs
• 10% is in NETWORKING for referrals to close; the most common way to expand business and success—ASK

A footnote to this is determination to close—the stick-to-it spirit and attitude that brings home opportunities.

The How

I learned how important trust is, especially in combat. So the first rule of thumb in turning challenge into opportunity is to trust in yourself. Turn self-doubt into inquiry and inquiry into confidence. As you exude confidence, being positive is infectious and draws others to view us as trustworthy.

The second important lesson for understanding needs is how to organize yourself to attain it. I found the best way for me to organize my day work was to think of it in thirds: that is, one-third of my day devoted to understanding what my boss(es) or clients needed from me by asking good questions; one-third understanding what my subordinates or colleagues needed to get the job done including guidance and/or resources, again, by asking good questions; and one-third for myself whether it was flying a combat mission, planning or doing critical thinking—you got it, by asking good questions of myself and examining alternatives. The simple question “what do you need” is a powerful and positive catalyst to understanding opportunity.

“Dialogue is the basic unit of work”

                                                           —Ram Charan 

Thirdly, plan how you are going to communicate. Matching what you have to the needs of others — and vice versa — drives your presentation and it usually takes more than one way and more than one offering. Positive ways with positive messages that are inclusive, minimizing the “I” and maximizing the “you” or “we”, are good ways to begin dialogue and setting conditions for opportunity.

Fourth, networking. It works for finding employment. It also is important in building a team to get things done including change management or tackling a difficult challenge. As humans, nothing is as integral to success as personal contact with others, regardless the venue, because others often have something we do not—including opportunity openings.

I like this image for what it conveys and use it often in working with executives. When I asked some what they saw in it one answered he saw people pulling together in teamwork. A second offered he saw blistered hands and sore arms. A third noted she saw the other team face down in the mud. None of these were wrong. They were insights of individual experiences but also telling of what they saw as opportunity—the first one turned out to be what he needed in his environment; the second was recollection of the failure he did not want to repeat from his experience; and the third saw potential victory over a competitor through valiant effort.

BOTTOM LINE: Opportunity always exists in every challenge but one has to look for it, recognize it, and to be successful, capitalize on it. Look for the good that can come from the bad. Be positive in your outlook and planning when facing difficulty. Have a system to deal with challenges. And NEVER give up.