Our family had stopped for lunch on a pretty little beach in Hawaii. A family was there fishing. The father was throwing a net and had some crab pots out. The kids were fishing with a stick and a hook. They invited us to join them.
Eventually the crab pots were brought in. There were 3 crabs in the pots. The dad grabbed the crabs with his bare hands and plopped them in a bucket. I was 9 years old at the time and I remember telling all the adults that those crabs were going to get out. I was scared. They showed me how a crab can grab a stick with those claws.
One crab did get part way out once. An adult came over and knocked it back in. Other than that once, it was never a problem. You see crabs won’t let another crab get above them. They pull them back down into the bucket.
As a recruiter I’ve interviewed a lot of people who are like those crabs. They complain about how unfair things are. I can get lists of offenses they have suffered at work. I can also get ingenious methods of retaliation they used. They concentrate more on what they want than how to help the business make a bigger profit. They expect someone to appoint them to lead and for everyone to meekly do as they say.
Frank Fox told me, “Leadership is 90% seized and 10% granted.” I’d say opportunity is also 90% seized and 10% granted. Networks? 90% seized and 10% granted.
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Something To Do Today
Look at your work group, church, friends, etc. Who always decides where the group is going for lunch? Who picks what you are going to do?
Who decides where you will meet? How do they seize that control? Write down some thoughts in your job journal.
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For a few days: How to network at the top.
Creating networks
Seizing opportunities
How natural leaders do it even if they have no titles.