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He had found the used records he was looking for and was now simply enjoying the vibe of the Haight/Ashbury district of San Francisco. He had never seen a hippie and here he was in the epicenter of the movement. He drank in the sights, sounds and smells of it all. Wow, as a prairie boy from Canada he had never experienced anything like this before.

Then it happened.

What he saw approaching him caused his ‘distant early warning mechanism’ to start tingling. Three angry looking guys wearing the same clothing rounded the corner and were now walking straight toward him on the sidewalk. He didn’t want any trouble, so he simply crossed over to the other side of the street.

So did they.

He crossed back to the other side of the street.

So did they, and they were now getting very close to him. It appeared that a physical confrontation was a foregone conclusion.

Then something unexpected occurred…

An old, beat-up, rusty car came barreling around the corner – driven by a lone woman. She screeched to a stop right beside the 3 men. She then began to focus her verbal tirade on one of them.

“What are doing hangin’ out with these good-for-nothing low-lifes when you should be home taking care of your responsibilities!!”

Two of the men immediately took off. The lone remaining man slouched, and hung his head in defeat.

“You get your butt into this car and come home to do what you are supposed to be doing – take out the garbage and be the man of the house!!”

He slunk into the car, sitting low in the passenger seat while covering his face with his hand. As the car accelerating past Randy, who had been standing on the sidewalk watching all this transpire, he overheard her say to her man,

“And let me tell you this, there’ll no sugar tonight!”

A little light went on in his mind, “Hey, that would be a great title for a song.”

That marked the birth of Randy Bachman beginning to pen one of the Guess Who’s most popular hits, No Sugar Tonight.

So what does this story have to do with business and leadership? Well, it’s all about opportunity and inspiration.

Do you recognize opportunity when it arises? Are you awake and alert enough to see opportunity and inspiration when it presents itself? Do you ensure that you take the time regularly to lift your head up from your work to breathe and create room for inspiration, to relax enough to recognize opportunity? Do you step off the treadmill, quiet your heart and get input from a wide variety of creative sources?

Some say opportunity knocks only once, but that’s not true. Opportunity knocks regularly, but we are often completely unaware of it. Inspiration can be even tougher to come by. Inspiration comes more often to those who look for it from a variety of sources. We must allow ourselves time to rest, recharge and refresh.

We somehow think that putting our heads down and pounding out the work for endless hours is the epitome of effectiveness and efficiency. It’s that kind of mindset over a long period of time that leads to burn out and a loss of creativity, inspiration and the ability to recognize opportunity when it knocks – or at least to have the energy to open the door.

To lead and live well we must be intentional about enabling ourselves to breathe and, therefore, increase our capacity for creativity and inspiration. Taking regular breaks from work to engage in endeavors to feed and nourish our hearts is critical to stimulate creativity and grow our capacity for inspiration.

Randy gave himself room to breathe by shopping for the music that made his heart come alive, amidst a setting he had never before experienced, so that when opportunity knocked he recognized it and was inspired to create something new. Let’s follow suit and cultivate ‘creativity breaks’ to increase our effectiveness as leaders.

Let’s ensure we are awake and alert to recognize opportunity when it knocks, and have the creativity and inspiration to do something about it.

Where will you discover your “No Sugar Tonight”?