Do you ever feel plagued with bad luck? Some people have good luck – but you don’t seem to?
You’ve heard of ROI – Return on Investment. Well there’s actually ROL – Return on Luck. Even bad luck. Impossible? Read on.
Last year I heard a speech by Jim Collins, business guru and author of Good to Great and his latest, Great By Choice. Jim has spent his career studying what makes good companies great, versus merely good.
He says most people think of a “luck event” as bad or good, when actually luck is unpredictable. You can’t control it, and it has an impact on you. The difference between good companies and great companies is what they do with a “luck event”. The great companies find opportunity. The good companies don’t.
The same is true of people. I have been privileged to hear the life stories of many people. When successful people have what we think of as a “bad luck event,” they build on it.
Sometimes a luck event is relatively small. Earlier this month, I had a week booked with Vancouver clients. But the day before I left, two of the four clients had emergencies and had to cancel. A luck event…
How did I get an ROL – Return on Luck?
In my case, I spent time preparing for a radio show, enjoying a walk on English Bay, completing a project I needed to get off my desk and setting up meetings with people I don’t normally see. (One of the meetings has resulted in a collaborative project that NEVER would have happened if I hadn’t had my luck event.)
When the unexpected happens, instead of: “Woe is me! I’m just unlucky”. Stop. Ask: What possibilities are there to emerge out of this disruption?
A “luck event” is just an event. How we handle it is what makes it lucky or unlucky.
Tell me about a luck event you’ve had and how you used it.
See you next Tuesday.
Elizabeth