Jack and the OpportunityStalk

Ding-Dong

Every now and then, we get unwanted solicitations at home – magnets advertising tree cutting services tossed on our driveway, pamphlets promising salvation slipped under our mat, volunteers ringing the bell requesting a donation. We toss the ads in the trash and flip a coin to determine if we’ll answer the door.

A recent solicitation was different. Folded like a fan and wedged under our mailbox, the solicitation offered of a dog poop pick-up service. As solicitations go, it was nothing out of the ordinary. What was out of the ordinary – and what delighted me – was the message at the bottom: PS: I am a 9-year old.I left a message for Jack saying that while I didn’t need his service I was glad to know he was available. I wished him well and left my name and number.

Attitude, not age

When Jack called back, I repeated my encouragement and congratulations. He thanked me. I shared that I noticed in my walks around the neighborhood that some people didn’t pick up after their dog. I asked if he had customers. “Yes, I have 4.” He told me his sister got money from babysitting and that he wanted to earn some to buy a computer and play games with his brother. As I was saying “nice talking to you,” he offered: “I also pick up poop in your yard.”

He answered my questions directly. He was polite, not pushy. He has a goal that’s meaningful to him. Calling him a natural sales person would be so inaccurate, even misleading. Calling him an entrepreneur, a leader of himself, hits the mark.

I admit that my day job of teaching people (much-older-than-9) how to be better leaders and managers had a lot to do with why Jack’s way of being caught my attention.

See it, Seize it

My clients, many of them small business owners, want to have a productive, effective and profitable workplace. To create that, they tell me they want … employees who are unafraid to speak up… commitments made in meetings delivered on and not undone in the hallways … people to manage themselves and be accountable … work to less frustrating and more satisfying.

My clients learn how to have what they want actually happen by practicing a fundamental leadership concept that Jack demonstrates: Create your own opportunity and act.

You do know Jack

The fabled story of “Jack and the Beanstalk” has to do with taking advantage of the opportunities that life provides. At the beginning, Jack is mired in poverty, selling his family’s cow, which was a true act of desperation given that it was one of the family’s last sources of sustenance. By the end, he has untold wealth, with the golden hen, and he is the village hero.

The beanstalk that grows up into the sky is Jack’s opportunity to escape. He climbs it, even though he has no idea where it leads. It is the acceptance of this risk that ends up transforming his life. While not every risk leads to the discovery of a golden hen that provides a never-ending supply of golden eggs, the reader walks away from this story with the knowledge that even the scariest risk brings the possibility of reward.

The risky part for my Jack isn’t the picking up of the poop. It’s asking people if you can pick up their dog’s poop for 25¢ per pile. Whether he gets a “no” or a “yes,” Jack is climbing the opportunity stalk that he planted for himself. To be the leader you want to be, get to know the Jack in you. It’s a summer job that pays benefits all year long.

PS: Well done, Jack. You’re hired.