We recently had the pleasure of hearing Max Walker speak at a Casey Business Breakfast where he shared his story and some insights he had into careers and business. I have been invited to share about how the Casey Business Awards in 2010 had benefited Successful Endeavours and was interviewed by David Neitz and then had a front row seat to hear Max Walker share at length.

David Neitz interviews Ray Keefe

I was very impressed. Max Walker is a wonderful storyteller and when you hear him speak he paints a picture with words that is captivating and inspiring. There were 2 specific take away points for me:

• you have to spot and take the opportunities others miss, but only where your strengths are
• you have to block out the Dream Stealers. Whenever you dream, the dream stealers will try and stop you.

Ray Keefe, Max Walker and Junette Keefe

For the first example, Max Walker talked about his books. He was writing short stories for a newspaper. After he had written a few, it was suggested to him that he turn them into a book. He approached the paper and they happily gave him full permission and full copyright because they had already used them and saw no further value in them. He used them as the basis for his number 1 best seller How To Hypnotise Chooks . The key here was that he had been doing television presenting but no-one could write it like he spoke it. He had a unique story telling style. So he started writing his own scripts. That led to some short story writing, the newspapers short stories and then full on books. The opportunity came from leveraging his story telling skill, which he now knew how to put in writing, and mixed with his celebrity status created the opportunity to write books, 7 of which have been best sellers. This was possible because Max Walker had the talent and had developed the supporting skill to be able to take the opportunity. But he wasn’t aware of just how outstanding he really was until after he had done it.

Hmm… I wonder what opportunities I am overlooking right now?

How about you?

Thinking About Opportunities

The second example is something we all have to deal with. I have a dream! Famous first words for most of us, made iconic by Martin Luther King Jr. Dreams are a precious and a powerful creative force and it seems like whenever we have one, there is always a powerful negative force that comes against it. Max Walker shared some of the suprising sources of resistance he encountered. Friends, relatives especially, and colleagues are just a small subset of those who can become Dream Stealers.

Max Walker is both a gentleman and a thoroughly nice guy and I came away from the breakfast inspired, challenged and with a couple of unexpected bonuses. My name was drawn for the major door prize which was a signed Melbourne FC guernsey and my business partner, Junette, came away with a Lollypotz gift box. Melbourne FC have been regular supporters of Business and community activities in the City of Casey so we are proudly displaying their jumper in our foyer.

Melbourne FC Guernsey with 2001 Team Signatures

Ray Keefe has been developing high quality and market leading electronics products in Australia for nearly 30 years. For more information go to his LinkedIn profile at Ray Keefe. This post is Copyright © 2011 Successful Endeavours Pty Ltd