The Mission
Bring “lightbulb moment” learning experiences to students, graduates, leaders, and teams that boost organizational performance and individuals’ confidence and wellbeing, cultivate deeper connection, and build meaningful careers.
The Story
Opportunities Knock was founded by Rebecca Leder in 2021, the same year she published her bestselling career development book, KNOCK: How to Open Doors and Build Career Relationships that Matter. After making several meaningful career moves in digital marketing over the span of 14 years – working in government technology marketing, then founding a marketing consulting company for small businesses, non-profits, and startups, working for several smaller marketing agencies, and eventually working at Salesforce for over six years, Rebecca thought about those who opened new doors for her, and she was ready to open new doors for others.
Opportunities Knock was founded with the mission of bringing “lightbulb moment” learning experiences to organizations, students, graduates, leaders, and teams to help them cultivate deeper connection and build meaningful careers.
Rebecca Otis Leder designed her first curriculum, The Knock Method®: 5 Steps to Building High Quality Career Relationships, rooted in social psychology research on the power of connection and compassion at work, and hosted her first workshop in 2018 at a hip cafe in Chicago.
Rebecca has since trained over 1,500 students, graduates, and emerging and developing leaders in The Knock Method, in partnership with:
- Global Corporations: Amazon, Aon, Brink’s, and Salesforce Women’s Network and Women Aiming Higher
- Tech: Amazon, Pendo.io, Vanco
- Workforce Development Organizations: Year Up and Mi Casa Resource Center in Denver
- Start-up Entrepreneurs: Jewish High Tech Community and On Deck
- Healthcare Tech/Biotech/Wellness: Terumo Blood & Cell Technologies, Lone Star Communications, Live Well Enhance You
- Non-profits: JewishColorado, Denver Jewish Chamber of Commerce
Through teaching this curriculum and supporting career growers–those looking to take their career to the next level, career changers–those looking to make the right career change, and career builders— students, graduates, workforce development opportunity youth, and entrepreneurs, Rebecca set out to work with individuals and organizations to develop learning experiences, workshops, and curricula that build confidence, improve employee and organizational performance, and bring a human-centric approach to not just doing a job, but building a meaningful career. Explore workshops focused on Job Search Readiness, Soft-Skill Development and Onboarding New Hires, Internal Collaboration, Mentoring, Manager and Leadership Development, Women’s Leadership, and Student, Graduate, and Career Services.
Rebecca is a candidate for a Graduate Certificate in Learning Design & Technology at The Harvard Extension School, and a member of the Relational Coordination Collaborative at Brandeis Heller School for Social Policy and Management. She brings the innovative research and techniques learned through this training and community to her interactive workshops and learning experiences to make an impact and drive change.
Learn about how we can partner with your team and organization for creative, impactful learning and development programs, or discover career development events and coaching to support your own meaningful career. Reach out or inquire about a workshop.
Impact & Outcomes
Increase Employee Retention & Job Happiness
It’s about more than job satisfaction. It’s about being thrilled with, enthusiastic about, and happy about our jobs, our work, and our careers. When we feel good about our work, we want more of these good feelings, helping us produce our best work, experiencing meaningful growth, and that leads to staying with an employer. Happy employees equals staying and growing employees.
Boost Wellbeing
Organizations often set goals to measure productivity, sales, and even utilization (how many billable hours are spent helping clients). But, what about measuring your employees’ mindsets, happiness, satisfaction, and health? Employees with healthy wellbeing perform well because they feel good, whole, balanced, included, and work helps them feel fulfilled, meaning, and self-confident. Let’s aim for happy healthy employees, and the business growth will come.
Generate Employee Engagement & Connection
Whether you have a virtual or hybrid team or your team is in-office, are your employees communicating openly, connecting genuinely, and feeling comfortable being authentic? Let’s develop skills that help employees feel empowered to shape their work and your organization by bringing the uniqueness of who they are and their skillsets and experiences. Let’s help them contribute, and not just perform.
Increase Internal Collaboration
One hidden lever that organizations can use to operate at an efficient, effective, and productive level is internal collaboration. When individuals or teams work in silos, this slows everything down. When talents and knowledge are kept within individuals’ scopes of work or team walls, the organization and its customers and partners miss out on opportunities to innovate, expand, and compete. Developing the skills to share openly, and put heads together, speeds things up, even when it feels like it slows things down. Better together.
Empower Individuals’ Career Growth & Development
Are we only willing to support employee career growth if they plan to stay at our organization? Let’s put the human first and help them define what career growth looks like for them, then provide opportunities to help them grow in those new directions. When we support the individuals we work with, they recommend the organization to prospective talent, and their future employers will remember where they came from and how they developed such valuable skills, helping you compete in the marketplace with a positive reputation. Ideally, supporting their growth keeps them happy and growing at your organization. Put the human first, and everyone wins.
Strengthen Customer Relationships
Building customer relationships isn’t just about the sale. And, business development and customer success isn’t just about growing current accounts and add-on products and services. It’s about deepening customer relationships, knowing the human on the other side of the table or screen, and understanding what they value and what makes them tick. The Knock Method workshops help your team see beyond sales targets and business metrics and slow down to truly get to know the humans they work with, known as customers.
Ready to Partner?
Whether you have a specific career, talent, or leadership development learning program in mind for your group or team, or you’re looking for a partner to help you design one that boosts employee retention, inclusion, and connection at work, or attracts prepared and top talent, let’s talk.
