I talked about opportunities in my last post. A lot of people never fulfil their potential because they never got the right opportunities. There is another group – those who get the right opportunities but fail to build upon them. I recently watched a TV show called ‘Iconoclasts’ which featured Jamie Oliver, the famous British chef. He narrated how he got the opportunity that led to his emergence as a celebrity TV chef. It was not something that he planned for but it was an opportunity which he built upon.
He got his break as a baby-faced 21 year old chef at The River Café. The BBC crew was at the restaurant to film a documentary. Jamie Oliver wasn’t supposed to be at work on that particular day. It was his day off. He came in that day as a substitute chef. The other chef was off on disciplinary grounds. He was engaging and camera guy focused on him as he cooked and explained what he was doing. His natural playfulness and passion on camera resonated with the general public when the documentary was aired on TV. He went from the guy in the background to a man in demand. He got several TV offers based on a few minutes in the documentary. The one he chose made him a TV star. His age allowed him to connect with the largely untapped young TV viewers sought by the BBC. Jamie Oliver was able to maximise his opportunity into a TV show, The Naked Chef, and several cook books. He converted one opportunity into multiple ones.
Once you are prepared and ready for the right opportunities then you have to build on those opportunities. A small opportunity should be turned into a big one and a big one should become a bigger opportunity over time. Successful individuals are really good at maximising and multiplying their opportunities.
How are you capitalising on your opportunities to maximise and multiply them?
