How to be Opportunity Led
Our Guest:
Dr. Roger Parrott is President of Belhaven University, one of the fastest growing and most innovative colleges. He was named one of the 10 Most Visionary Education Leaders of 2021 by Education Magazine. His latest book, Opportunity Leadership: Stop Planning and Start Getting Results, shows how unexpected opportunities are the key to success.
Scriptures and Key Points on Opportunity Leadership
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We need leaders who can get in there and get it done.
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Leaders who have the content and the character.
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Give up planning – distance and long term planning! You still do operational planning for what you know God has given you to do.
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We don’t plan where God is going to take us.
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The assumption of the need for long-range planning can hold us back from God’s very best.
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The most significant things in our lives are not planned or measurable.
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We as Christians need to stop settling for the best we can come up with.
“It’s a ministry we didn’t ask for, but it’s a ministry nonetheless.”– Doug Stringer
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God opened one door after another and we faithfully walked through.
“Of all the significant things we’ve done at this university, I don’t think the things that mattered most we ever planned. They were just opportunities and we were willing to move forward.” – Thomas E. Corts, Samford University
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If you teach from a foundation of faith, then people are equipped for the tests of life.
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You need to be willing to adjust and change.
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God’s principles are unshakable and bring lasting success.
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The things that really matter, you can measure.
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You can’t measure the transformation of lives.
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Planning minimizes what you can do.
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When you plan, you focus on what you don’t have.
When you look for opportunities, you focus on what you do have.
Mark 6:30-44 The Feeding of the Five Thousand
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We need to be a sail boat that is sensitive to God’s wind rather than a power boat that pushes through to where we think God is going and ignores the wind of God.
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If you wait, God will bring opportunities.
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Institutional vs. Relational
Luke 10:25-37 The Parable of the Good Samaritan
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Jesus’ ministry was full of interruptions and capturing opportunities.
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We need to look for the opportunities to start and the opportunities to stop.
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It takes time and a process to build a culture of capturing opportunities.
1 Corinthians 4:15 NKJV For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.
Opportunity leadership starts with commitment and a belief that God is sovereign.
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Clarify your mission.
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When you understand your mission, gifting and capacity, then the opportunities come and you have a filter to know which ones to take advantage of as you will see which ones fit.
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We can see more things accomplished when we stay in our lane.
1 Samuel 17 David and Goliath
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David wasn’t expecting a battle when he left home, but he was able to act fast when the opportunity came.
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We may not be successful every time, sometimes there may be a learning that God is teaching us to prepare us for something later.
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David approached the battle with confidence.
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Goliath never had a chance, because God was on David’s side.
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Flex for impartation.
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David did what was unconventional.
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Courageous leaders need to be willing to go against the grain to do what’s right.
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We don’t need to create opportunities. We need to expect God to bring the opportunities.
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There’s room for creativity when you get rid of the plan.
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Following opportunities doesn’t mean you forget previous knowledge in your leadership.
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You plan well with what you know God’s given you.
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When you don’t know where you’re going, take a moment and reflect on where God’s brought you from.
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Many have been satisfied with mediocrity, rather than being willing to change and let God work in their lives.
“Sometimes the people you wanted as part of your story are only meant to be a chapter.” – Bishop Dale Bronner
“There are times you don’t sever relationships, but you move to new levels of relationships.” – Dr Edwin Louis Cole
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Change is unsettling.
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You’ve got to help people personalize the change. To excel and do well, they need to know where they fit in the mission so they can cope with the change.
Books
Opportunity Leadership by Roger Parrott
The Longview by Roger Parrott
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Good to Great by Jim Collins
Leadership Awakening by Doug Stringer
David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell
Attitudes That Attract Success by Wayne Cordeiro
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