Opportunity is an Invitation to do the Work

Too often, those on the receiving end of opportunity think they are getting a gift. And they are. But that gift is an invitation. An invitation to do the work.

Opportunities are hard to come by. It’s hard to transform opportunity into achievement. It takes hard work. A wasted opportunity is a door opened for you that you refused to walk through. It is an invitation to do work that you chose not to do.

When you are singled out through opportunity, it feels good. You feel special. Maybe you are privileged. Maybe you earned it. Either way, the opportunity isn’t the prize. The opportunity is a door opening for you so that you can walk through and go after the prize.

When training your staff, start with this lesson. Anything worth having or knowing, is worth putting in work to achieve. Too often, I hear senior managers quick to tag younger generations as “entitled.” It might help bridge the generational communication gap if you are clear about distinguishing entitlement to opportunity versus entitlement to results. I think you’ll find that if you are fair and equitable about distributing opportunity, your rising stars will accept opportunity’s invitation do the work.

It’s a mistake to think that the opportunity is the goal. It is the work that comes after that matters.