Create Opportunities

How do you get others involved? Create opportunity. Opportunity for engagement will drive the success of your business, build for the future, develop a succession plan, instill confidence and you will have fun! Imagine fun at work!


When problem-solving or making decisions, including others is a way to expose up-and-comers to situations that could help them grow. The ability to understand the alternatives and options at hand when making decisions that affect the business can help the budding leader to relate situations and consequences at the same time.

Brainstorming with your group is another way to create an opportunity for team members to learn about each other, form new connections and build more solid relationships. Watching how the group interacts is an opportunity for you, as the leader to observe behaviour - who is participating or not, taking over or letting things slide by, who is engaged or not, who is the nay-sayer or advocate for solutions.

As an observer you can also determine if the brainstorming is active or passive. Active brainstorming is when the entire group or majority is participating, ideas are flowing, you are observing innovation in action, ideas are built upon rather than dismissed. Passive brainstorming takes place when there are few engaged participants in a larger group and they are carrying the direction of the session by looking for agreement rather than new ideas or challenges.

After brainstorming there is usually a plan to develop and carry out. Brainstorming is used to solve problems, start new projects. Asking group members or team members to develop the plan they would like to implement becomes an opportunity for growth and empowerment. It will be easier to get buy in if the plan comes from colleagues as opposed to from the top down. Implementation and roll out will take place as the newly empowered leaders will follow up to ensure execution is up to or exceeding company expectations.

Will you gain opportunities by giving them to others? Absolutely. You will be seen as the people developer, the opportunity creator. You will develop your own assessment skills to ensure that you are creating the right opportunities for the right people.

Creating opportunities comes with a certain level of responsibility. You need to ensure that you are matching the opportunity to the correct individual. Helping them understand that the opportunity is now in their hands and the outcome is their own. Following up to ensure that they have exhausted the gift to it's fullest potential.