A good question for many business leaders, managers and employees. Pursuing an opportunity or a skill or a goal is being proactive, being tenacious like a dog with a bone. It’s strategizing and putting in what’s missing. It’s looking at it from every angle. It’s being unreasonable and persistent. It’s self generating and using initiative to seek the answer to a challenge.

On the other hand being ‘open to it’ means that if it smacks you in the face, you’ll pay attention to it. It’s passive and not responsible for creating what you want. It’s better than being resistant. However, you don’t want people in your organization who are just pleasantly reactive and have no personal investment in proactively going after what they want. (for themselves or for your company)

Do some ‘management-by-walking-around’ and ask your staff, managers and non-managers alike, “Are you pursuing that or are you merely open to it?” Do they know the difference? Do they know that you’re building a team of pursuers?

Explained in more depth in chapter 3 of my book, The Customer Loyalty Playbook, 12 Game Strategies to Drive Improved Results in Your Business.

Some business owners come to me and say, “How come I work so hard and have so little to show for it?” Is that you? Then contact me and let’s work out a new way to have you work less and gain more.