As a business person and a leader, I have knocked on many doors. Some of these doors have led to great adventures, while some others to challenging times. Still, there are others that led to times of deep reflection (where I wished I had rather run away).
As entrepreneurs and business leaders, part of what we do is to knock on doors. While some of those doors open, some of them do not and others we have no option but to virtually force open. It is important we develop the strength of mind and heart to keep knocking on doors, despite any bad experiences we may have experienced in the past. Understand that as soon as we stop knocking on new doors, we stop learning, we stop growing and profitability stagnates.
New Doors Shape Us
Each door that we knock on, shapes and changes us. Each door we journey through makes us perceive life in a different way. Aldous Huxley wrote the following:
“The man who comes back through the Door in the Wall will never be quite the same as the man who went out. He will be wiser but less sure, happier but less self-satisfied, humbler in acknowledging his ignorance yet better equipped to understand the relationship of words to things, of systematic reasoning to the unfathomable mystery which it tries, forever vainly, to comprehend.”
There are just some areas of growth we will never attain without stepping into something new. And like the saying goes, ‘it is risky not to take risk.’ If you do not take that step, you will never get there. Remember Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.“ Matthew 7:7.
Do not be Limited
As a family, we have been in business for ten decades, and through the years we have learnt many invaluable lessons through doors that have opened up for us. Although there are doors I wish we had never knocked on, but deep down I know that I have learnt something very important by walking through that door.
New ventures can be taxing, but I know that to grow and move forward, I must not shy away from knocking on new doors. When knocking, never view people or organisations as competition because God has already assigned our portion (Psalm 16:5-6). We need not have to manipulate outcomes.
Why Do We Keep Knocking?
God has not only called leaders, but everyone to knock on doors. In Mark 16:15 God directs us to, “Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel to the whole creation.” God calls us to bring His light and hope into our spheres of influence.
In addition to this, God has promised to go before us through those doors. In Micah 2:13 we read that, “The One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they will break through the gate and go out. Their King will pass through before them, the Lord at their head.”
We need to trust God, follow His lead and partner with Him on every journey. Let us keep on knocking on doors and allow Him to accomplish His will and purposes in and through our lives.
The Importance of Proper Communication
Good and relevant communication is essential when the doors are opened. If you desire to win ground, contrive on how to win with words fitly spoken. So many opportunities have slipped from our hands because of the way we poorly communicated with a current or prospective client. This should not be.
The most profitable way of communicating is with short sentences, which would be more easily apprehended and remembered than long speeches. The tone of your speech must not be harsh, disrespectful or presumptuous. We must first preach to ourselves before we undertake to instruct others.
A wise person will tug at the affections of people and conquer them by strength of reason, which is more effective than that obtained by strength of arms.
About the Author: Dr Alan Louis is a third generation entrepreneur in a family with a 100-year business history. He devoted his life to Christianity as a child. Awarded a PhD in Commerce, is an Ultra Ironman Triathlete Gold medallist and was inducted in the IBC Hall of Fame for entrepreneurship. Internationally he has served on more than 100 private corporate boards, and has experienced the trials and successes of commerce for 3 decades.