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.

Change is Good, Donkey! Leadership Secrets from Shrek

“Change is good donkey” says Shrek to Donkey on their walk back to the Kingdom with the Princess Fiona, new to their group. Adding whole new dynamics to the Shrek team, the future, the behaviour, the consequences and the rewards. Now Shrek went from being a lonely, mean and terrifying ogre scaring everyone in the forest to having an overly energetic sidekick (that he didn’t want in the first place) to rescuing the Princess from the castle (that was protected by the dragon)and eventually marrying her. And poor Princess Fiona – she had to connect with the reality that she was an ogre by night and a Princess by day. Shrek made her realize that it was good to be who she really was, twenty-four hours a day, not only the Princess. There were many changes in processes and attitudes to accept along the way of a short lifespan in this movie. Shrek prepared himself before he could get Donkey on board with changes. How did they do it? How do you do it?



Change is a process. Changes come about because of a need. Change projects are ‘need-to-do’ not ‘nice-to-do’ projects and are developed with a clear vision of the future. Change processes develop because something is missing or there is something better out there for the organization, the customer, employees, the stakeholders or all of them combined. There will be a measurable difference in results. To develop the change project, analysis of gaps – ‘today vs. the future’ vision needs to be reviewed and understood so that each step in the change process will be effective, efficient and positively forward-moving.


Change can easily be thrust upon you. Are you ready for it? How do you prepare? How do you communicate change? How do you implement and maintain change?


1. Evaluate the Change


You will need to evaluate what type of change is coming your way. Is it a process change, people change, system change, personal change? Or is the change an accumulation of small steps that are progressive?


2. Understand the People Impact


You will need to understand who is involved in the change. Just you? Your entire team? What other stakeholders will be affected by the change? Your customers? Your vendors? Your employees? Your organization? Will the changes or the effects on the stakeholders be positive or negative? What role are the members of your team playing? Who will be happy with the change – embrace and fully execute all components of the project, even become and advocate? Who will be a ‘change-hostage’ – adverse and slow to change? Who will be a ‘change-vacationer’ – go with the flow and pick later how they feel about the change? Who will not last through the change? There may have to be significant changes to the members on the team for the change to last and be successful.


3. Anticipate Roadblocks


Roadblocks will come up in more than one fashion. You will need to run through many ‘what –if’ scenarios to prepare yourself in advance for roadblocks. When you are in the middle of the change process and encounter a roadblock, it will be difficult to properly think it through – you will get into a reactionary mode, so run through the scenarios in advance.


• People Roadblocks – how will you handle ‘change-hostages’? How will you handle the need to increase or decrease staffing? How will you help your customers through the changes?


• Process Roadblocks – how will you prepare for system breakdowns, process improvements that need tweaking for your specific team or area? How will you explain new pricing strategies? How will you react to lack of or overabundance of product?


• Day to Day Roadblocks – how will you handle double-digit increases in business and still happily exceed your customers expectations? How will you handle the lack of control over the flow of merchandise or sales until a new rhythm develops? What will you do to anticipate and avoid future issues?


4. Make a Personal Commitment to Become a Change Agent


Nothing else will matter unless you decide to become a Change Agent. You will need to have a long look in the mirror and assess your own leadership ability and your skills to work through this change. Are you mentally ready for this change? Is your attitude towards this change positive? Are you prepared to face the challenges that come with communicating and implementing change? Are you prepared to change how you do things personally to keep up with and exceed the expectations of the new vision for the future? You need to analyze your own gaps. It may be time to make serious decisions about your role in the organization – are you going to lead change, follow change or get out of the way? What worked in the past will not work in the future – habits, routines, communication methods, even your daily attitude will be tested. Can you handle the tests and anticipate the changes you will need to make for you to truly be a change agent?


You will need to lead your team through the change. Partial commitment will be useless. Use all of the resources available to you to get through the change – past experiences, experiences of others, projections, project plans, timelines, anything that can provide you with support and help you create a solid plan to communicate and implement the upcoming change.


If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got. When you are in a change process, you will need to encourage your team to work in new ways, build new habits, try new activities, develop new routines, and communicate with new members of the team that can provide insight and expertise. How you teach your team to do this lies squarely on the leader’s shoulders. Your attitude will always be reflected in the attitude your team shows to your customers, each other, your vendors, your stakeholders and your organization.


Shrek was very kind to Donkey expressing his belief in change. Change is good, be prepared personally to get the change started from within yourself. As the leader, you will take your team through the change, the roadblocks, the surprises and the rewards. By committing to becoming a Change Agent, you will ensure the successful implementation and empower your team to reach the vision of the future.