Why Some Leaders Create Opportunities Instead of Waiting for Them

Four people walked back into my leadership cohort with news I did not see coming: they created brand-new roles inside their organisations and got promoted into them. No one assigned the work. No one handed them a goal. They simply saw a need that was going unmet, believed they were the right person to solve it, and made a case for a role that did not exist before.

That moment changed how I think about opportunity and readiness. Most of us are taught to wait for the opening, keep doing good work, and hope the right person notices. But the leaders who grow the fastest are not the ones who wait the best. They get clear on what they value, what energises them, and where their strengths naturally create impact, then they start spotting possibilities other people walk past. Clarity becomes a filter for smarter career decisions, stronger leadership presence, and more intentional professional growth.

We also dig into how to develop the people around you without trapping them in a “menu of existing roles.” I share the questions that unlock ownership and initiative: What problem do you wish someone would let you solve? What strengths are we not fully using? What do you see that nobody else is talking about? Those questions invite curiosity, and curiosity is often where real leadership begins.

If you have ever thought, “Somebody should really fix that,” I’ll leave you with one challenge: stop and ask, “What if that someone is me?” Subscribe to Getting to Clarity, share this with a leader who’s ready to step up, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

Transcript

A Surprising Leadership Story

Debbie Peterson 0:01

Hey, hello, and welcome back. I am Debbie Peterson, and this is another episode of the Getting to Clarity Podcast, your next clear move. So I want to tell you a story about four leaders who did something I didn't see coming. I'd been working with a cohort of 26 people. And a few months after we wrapped up our first session, four of them came back with news that genuinely surprised me. Each of them has seen a need in their organization, decided that they were the person to solve it, and created a brand new role for themselves. They got promoted into it. No assignment, no goal, nobody told them to do it. So today I want to talk about what made that possible because I think it changes how we look at opportunity, how we look at readiness, and what we may be walking past every single day. So let's get into it. Stay tuned.

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Welcome to the Getting to Clarity Podcast.

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The place where busy leaders discover how to create more success in their leadership journey with less sacrifice in their life.

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Here's your host, Debbie Peterson of Getting to Clarity.

Values And The 90 Day Plan

Debbie Peterson 1:16

I was not expecting what happened next. I recently worked with a leadership development cohort of 26 people. During our first session together, we did something that doesn't always look like leadership development from the outside. We talked about values, what it is that they value in the context of leadership and their career. We explored what kind of leader each person wanted to become and honestly what kind they never wanted to be. We looked where they were spending their time versus where they were actually wanting to spend their energy. We got into real stuff, personal stuff, professional stuff, stuff that doesn't actually or usually come up in a conference room. So they left with clarity about themselves. They left with a plan to move the needle toward what kind of leader they wanted to be. So that was what we were working toward. They each had a next clear move to start the next 90 days until we gathered as a cohort again in person. So that was what we were shooting for. What happened next was not. So a few months later, we're all back in the room together again for our next in-person session, and we started with a group debrief. The question was: what's changed since we gathered last? Everyone was giving updates on where things stood since our last session. And one of the things I love most about a cohort like this is what happens between people in it. They were showing up for each other. They were celebrating each other. This day the energy was just amazing. Four of those 26 had news that nobody saw coming, including me. Each of them has seen a need in their organization that no one had asked them to solve. Each of them had decided that they were the person to solve it. Each of them had created a new role that didn't exist before, and each of them had been promoted into it. The room went just a little crazy in the best possible way. So I want to be honest about what I felt in that moment. I was surprised. And I was also so proud of them. Not because they got promoted, although, you know, that deserves celebrating, that matters. Because they gave themselves permission. Nobody tapped them on the shoulder. Nobody assigned it as, hey, figure this out. It wasn't even a topic that we covered. They just went back to their organizations. They had a little more clarity. They saw something. They believed that they were the right person to do something about it. And they did. It's not something that I taught them. That's something that surfaced when they got clear enough about who they are to see it.

Stop Waiting And Start Seeing

Debbie Peterson 3:55

And that changed about opportunity, how I think about opportunity. You know, most of us assume that opportunities are something that happened to us. The right position opens up, the right person notices us, the right timing finally arrives. We wait. We stay ready. We keep doing good work and we hope that someone is paying attention. And you know, sometimes that works. But leaders who grow the most aren't the ones who wait the best. They're the ones who get so clear about the value that they bring that they start seeing possibilities that other people would normally walk past. So when you know what you stand for, what energizes you, where you can naturally create an impact, you stop trying to fit yourself into every opportunity that comes along. You know, I say you can do it, but should you, right? Just because you can, should you? When you are really clear, you start noticing the specific places where your strengths meet a real need. And sometimes you realize that place doesn't have a job title yet. It doesn't exist. That's when you create one.

Better Questions For Growing Leaders

Debbie Peterson 5:06

Maybe that's something that you pitch. And this matters for how we develop the people around us too. We tend to ask our team members the same questions. Where do you want to be in five years? What role are you interested in? And those aren't necessarily bad questions. I'm not slamming them, although it may sound like I am. But they keep people looking at a menu of existing options instead of thinking about what they actually have to offer. So what if we ask different questions instead? What problem do you wish someone would let you solve? Maybe that's a good question. What strengths do you have that we aren't fully using? That's a great question. What do you see that nobody else seems to be talking about? Because we each have our gifts and we see different things. So those questions don't just invite ambition. They invite ownership and curiosity. You know that ownership is where real leadership begins.

Permission Readiness And Your Next Step

Debbie Peterson 6:04

So here's the deal: what holds most people back isn't capability, it's permission. We wait for someone else to tell us that we're ready. We are already ready. We wait for someone to recognize our potential. We wait for someone else to create the opening. And while we're waiting, we walk right past the very thing that we were positioned to solve, that our gifts naturally become a solution. So the four leaders in that room, in that cohort, they stopped waiting. Not because I told them to, because they got clear enough about who they are that they could finally see what had always been right in front of them. That's what readiness looks like. That curiosity, that clarity. So it's not having every answer. It's not having the perfect plan. It's knowing yourself well enough to recognize the moment when it's yours to take. So your next clear move is this. The next time you walk past something in your organization and you think, oh, somebody should really fix that. Stop. Ask yourself one question. What if that someone is me? You don't need the whole plan. You just need to be clear enough to take the first step. Because the opportunities that shape your leadership aren't always the ones that you are given. Sometimes they're the ones you were always ready to create.

Where To Learn More

Debbie Peterson 7:21

So thank you so much for joining me today. And I can't wait to be with you again. If you are curious about my programming and my leadership development opportunities, then head on over to Debbie PetersonSpeaks, www.debi PetersonSpeaks, and check it out. Until the next time, here is wishing you all the clarity that you deserve. Take care and bye-bye for now.

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Thank you for listening to this episode of the Getting to Clarity Podcast with Debbie Peterson.

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If you enjoyed the show, please rate and recommend it on iTunes or wherever you enjoy your podcast.

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To learn more about how you can bring Debbie and her transformational clarity leadership strategies to your organization, visit Debbie PetersonSpeaks.com.