I was at a conference recently, The room was packed with Kuwait’s top HR and L&D talent. Experts. Consultants. Directors. Coaches. Panels, certifications, workshops, trends… you name it. Every major company showcased their trophies, “Best Employer,” “Best Talent Development,” “Best Learning Culture.”
Impressive? Yes. Inspiring? Definitely…. i was definitely wow’d!!!
But while sitting there, something struck me hard. If I walked into this very room as a nobody, with no title, no badge, no credentials printed on a lanyard… Would anyone here see me for who I am?
Not my company. Not my job title. Not my years of experience. Not my educational or compliance certificates.
Just me. My skill. My hunger. My capability and that hit me deeper than I expected, because the truth is that most opportunities today are not created in conference halls, they are filtered.
Filtered by:
- “Do you have the certification?”
- “How many years of experience?”
- “Are you in the right industry?”
- “Can you email your CV to the portal?”
We speak endlessly about upskilling, reskilling, future skills, and talent transformation. But do we actually practice opportunity creation purely from passion, hope, faith? A close friend of mine told me on the same day. We need to make a Budget to Fail, so that employees can have no fear in failing. it got me into a very deep thought… what about budget to create opportunities for those in need.
Let’s be honest. If someone desperate, truly desperate, walked into that conference…
And they said:
“Sir/Madam, can you please help me with a job? I just need one chance.”
What would happen? Would someone say:
“Come, let’s sit. Let me understand what you’re good at. Let’s see what we can make happen.”
Or would the standard answer be:
“Please email your CV to this address… our team will review it.”
One is human. The other is procedure.
Both are valid, but only one can change a life. And that’s the real question is are we building systems that create opportunities, or systems that only validate those who already have them?
Because every “top talent” in that room was once a nobody too.
- Someone gave them a chance
- Someone took a risk.
- Someone saw potential, not paperwork.
And ironically, the biggest names in HR talk the most about “talent shortage,” while hundreds of capable people outside the door are still waiting for someone to believe in them. What I realized that day is simple:
Opportunities don’t happen. Someone has to create them. It starts with one person willing to say: “Tell me your story.”
