“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”

-Sir Winston Churchill

I happened to have the opportunity to meet Franz Marx, the creator of Egoli. I am always intrigued about what makes people successful. I asked Franz to tell me how he had managed to create South Africa’s longest running soap opera. He told me that before he started, he knew absolutely nothing about soap opera production. So he went looking for someone who did. He scraped together all his money and bought a ticket to Los Angles. Once there, he found his way on to the set of the ‘Bold and the Beautiful’, found the executive producer and asked him if he would show him how to make a soap opera. What do you think the producer said: ‘Don’t be ridiculous, I’m far too busy.’? Or: ‘Alright give me a million dollars, and we’ll see what we can do.’? Not at all. The producer was flattered that his ability had been recognised and that an African soap opera would be modelled on his own. At zero cost, he allowed Franz to spend time with each of the key production people, collect all the information that he needed. And the rest as they say is…Egoli!

Greatness is not born, it develops, one of the keys is having the humility to admit what you don’t know and allow yourself to be taught by those that do.

Unleash your potential!

Justin

Keynote speaker, author and trainer