Your Bridge To Access

Jen Spencer of Jen Spencer Coaches partners with individuals and companies to help them identify access opportunities to get closer to their vision, goals, and dreams. Her article, Your Bridge to Access, is being posted on the Generations X, Y, Z blog because we recognize that young professionals, like Jen, truly value having access.

This Austin City Limits Festival graced us with the presence of a close friend in the music business. Despite the fact that she travels with an expense account, we invited her to stay with us, and she took us up on the offer.

She returned the favor in the form of a couple of Artist passes, and my music festival experience was forever transformed. We had chairs to sit on, free drinks and snacks to indulge in, and celebrities to admire. And let’s not forget the up-close performances.

We had arrived. We had access in the highest form.

It came unexpectedly: a simple invitation led to a stellar experience. It got me thinking about access, and what it grants us.

And, how often are we given ‘permission’ to enter, and we miss the opportunity?

Defined literally, access is the “right to enter.” And it’s more than just that,  access is power. Where and what you want to enter may look different, but just like success, access is something we all want and aspire to.

Access gets you conversations, meetings, relationships and experiences that would not have been possible without being invited or given the right to enter. And, the invitation to “enter” can come in many forms:

1. a meeting request with a new group of people in your department leads to a new business idea

2. a look from a stranger encouraging you to strike up a conversation leads to a new client or friend

3. bad press about your business leads you to an opportunity to make a more accurate name for yourself.

Once you learn how to look for it, access is everywhere.  In the coming weeks, I want to challenge you to:

1. Notice the opportunities and invitations that you choose and those that you pass up over the next week.

2. Be clear about where you need or want more access.

3. Let the clarity behind answer #2 guide your decisions, participation and engagement.

Who knows? You may determine that a project you previously deemed a ‘pain in the ass’ has the potential to create access for you to leadership on the team.  Dealing with an unresolved conflict might be the exact access to attaining a better working relationship and developing a part of your leadership.

As Deepak Chopra says, “You and I are essentially infinite choice-makers. In every moment of our existence, we are in that field of all possibilities where we have access to an infinity of choices.”