By Barbara Poole
Contributing Writer

If you do a Web search on the word “luck,” you will come up with everything from magic spells to sociology projects to several rock bands whose pages look like they must play some serious head-banger music. One site I found guarantees that you will turn your life around if you order their lucky charms. I wonder how many people have tried to take them up on that.

I suppose the answer to the question of how to get lucky depends on your concept of what luck is all about.

In my last column, I shared a definition for luck that takes it out of the realm of the mysterious and provides a more plausible interpretation as “an unexpected reconfiguration of events.”

The frustrated scientist in me is always looking for an explanation that can make sense in the everyday world, so that’s the one I prefer.

More importantly, this way of looking at luck allows for the possibility that there might be some ways of influencing what could otherwise seem like just a matter of good fortune.

So how can you engineer the winds of fate to work in your favor? Here are five skills that you can use to increase the odds of Lady Luck being on your side:

• Challenge assumptions. For as long as I can remember, people in the business environment have been talking about something called “out of the box thinking.” The trouble is, many people simply move to a new box rather than truly taking a fresh approach to things.

I spent several years as director of career services for a liberal arts college, and one student in particular still stands out in my mind. Kiki was an English major, and while she was bright, she was no Rhodes scholar. Nevertheless, she had a dream of working in the creative division of Hallmark Cards. She also knew that students with her qualifications were a dime a dozen, and she would have to do something to make herself stand out in a sea of graduating seniors. So she came up with the idea of scrapping the traditional resume in favor of creating a giant greeting card that would cleverly express her desire to work for Hallmark. Challenging the assumption that only a plain vanilla resume was appropriate worked. She got lucky, and her career with Hallmark continues to grow.

• Recognize opportunities. I once worked for a man who had started a small office equipment company on a shoestring. He was not the world’s greatest manager, but he had the ability to spot a good deal a mile away. Although he enjoyed being an entrepreneur and loved the freedom that having an independent business afforded him, he also knew that the industry was headed in the direction of being dominated by a few mega-businesses.

When a prospective parent company came courting him, he not only engaged in the discussion, he also contacted their biggest competitor to see if they were interested. Before long, that little business that he had started for a song was the object of a fierce bidding war. When the deal was finally closed, he walked away a multi-millionaire, feeling very lucky.

• Seize the moment. Donna went to a Kiwanis meeting and sat next to a man who displayed an interest in the computer software company she works for. When their lunch was over, they exchanged business cards and he encouraged her to send him some literature on her products. Donna had a lot on her platter that particular month, and she set the card aside. Finally, about three weeks later, she mailed him a packet of information. Did she get lucky? Of course not. He had already given his business to one of her competitors.

• Take risks. One of the best measures of a person’s risk orientation is how they invest their money. The last couple of years have put us all to the test trying to second-guess a volatile economy. Predicting a good investment is probably a combination of science and intuition. History will tell of people who got lucky in real estate instead of staying in a depressed stock market. And, it will tell of people who stuck their necks out and placed their bets on the cyclical nature of that very same stock market.

• Build networks. Good opportunities aside, it still holds true that one of the best ways to get lucky in your business and career is to nurture strong networks. Time and time again, I hear people whose positions are being eliminated say that they wish they had maintained their connections rather than having to start from scratch. Treating your business contacts like valued relationships is the key to getting lucky when you’re in the job market.

So what will you do to ensure that you get lucky? You could contact that Web site that guarantees to change your life if you order its high-priced trinkets. As for me, I think I’ll place my bet on some good old-fashioned lucky skills.

Barbara Poole is a Leadership and Career Development Coach with Charleston-based Success Builders, Inc. She can be reached at coachcarbara@successbuildersInc.com or 795-8315.

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