Grab Opportunities That Open To You, And Encourage Others

  Many of you have heard the term or seen the movie "pay it forward." The book "Go Giver" is about a sales executive showing a young salesperson how doing things for others opens opportunities for yourself, as long as you do not expect personal reward.

I am having a wonderful time watching the evolution of a television program born from grabbing an opportunity. And actually, my own show was also born from an opportunity.

NOTE HERE: Before you e-mail me to help you get your own TV show, don't! I cannot "get you a show."

OK. Here's how grabbing opportunities caused unintended paying forwards.

I was interviewed on a TV program called "It's A Woman's World." The host is Carolyn Bruna, a colleague of mine in the National Speakers Association. She interviewed me for her program, and that was that. What she could not predict was that I LIKED IT! A few months later I learned that the studio was reevaluating its programming and seeking new hosts. I grabbed the opportunity, pitched my program idea, negotiated terms and conditions, and voila! I have my own show – "Think About It!". Carolyn provided the opportunity by introducing me to the studio and people who run it; I took it from there.

Now I watch a TV program that began with an opportunity. The hosts took it from there.

I interviewed, over time, all three of these hosts on my program. However one, I believe, first grabbed the opportunity and enlisted the other two in the plan. All I did was interview Steve Dorfman. He reached out and met the studio personnel, establishing a relationship. A networking event, a proposal, and some meetings with studio management–Steve (DrivenTo Excel) sheparded the process with his co-hosts "Chef Tony" Marciante and Glenn Garnes, and the result is "We Mean Business."

The moral of this story: When you see opportunity, grab it. And when you are in a position to create opportunity for someone else, encourage it and be happy for them grabbing it. Neither Carolyn nor I were intentionally providing opportunities for television shows. My show and Steve /Tony/Glenn's shows are results of grabbing opportunities we saw ourselves. Yet, the result is the same. Thanks to one opportunity we are all doing something we enjoy – and something that helps others through the information we provide. We may not be doing this if we had not grabbed the opportunity.

It's not "luck." It's "initiative."