Earn the Next Opportunity
Turn small assignments into bigger chances through effort and ownership
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~ongoing to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 86%
Start with a real but potentially modest opportunity, then treat it as a chance to demonstrate more than basic attendance. Deliver the core assignment well, take useful ownership of adjacent work, and remain available when circumstances create an opening. Chris Kamara describes doing a second match when another pundit was delayed, repeatedly accepting later broadcasts, and editing short features himself so nobody could dismiss his contribution. Those visible acts of reliability made him easier to trust with further work. The mechanism is cumulative: an opening creates evidence, evidence creates trust, and trust creates more openings. Kamara also distinguishes television from football and credits fortunate breaks, so this is a way to improve opportunity flow rather than a guarantee of success.
Origin
Extracted from The Diary of a CEO
Core principles
- 01Treat each assignment as evidence of what you can handle
- 02Do the unglamorous work that makes the final result better
- 03Availability turns chance openings into repeat opportunities
- 04Hard work improves the odds but does not eliminate luck
How to run it
- 1
Take the Opening
Accept a suitable assignment even if it is not yet the role or scale you ultimately want. The first job creates the setting in which others can observe your contribution.
Pro tip Prefer opportunities that expose your work to people who can offer a genuine next step.
Watch out Do not interpret this as an obligation to accept unsafe, exploitative or unsuitable work.
- 2
Deliver the Core Job
Do the requested work to the best of your ability. Reliability is the base evidence on which later opportunities depend.
Watch out Effort matters, but Kamara explicitly notes that football and television also require breaks.
- 3
Own a Useful Extra
Take responsibility for an adjacent task when it improves the final output and makes your contribution clear. Kamara learned to edit his own short television features after filming them.
Pro tip Choose extra work connected to the quality of the result, not performative busyness.
Watch out Do not take over work merely to claim credit.
- 4
Be Ready for the Gap
Stay prepared when an unexpected vacancy or delay creates more responsibility. Kamara's first punditry appearance expanded when another pundit was stuck in traffic.
Pro tip Build enough capacity that a useful last-minute request is possible to accept.
- 5
Compound the Evidence
Use each completed assignment as proof that you can handle the next one. Repeated availability and delivery gradually turn isolated work into a trusted role.
Pro tip Track which behaviours actually lead to repeat invitations.
Watch out Do not confuse a good process with certainty; timing and luck still affect outcomes.
In the wild
Kamara travelled to Sky for a football broadcast while still managing Bradford. Jerry Francis, due to cover the second game, was delayed on the M4, so Kamara covered the double-header. Kamara says that six-hour appearance helped make him a go-to option for later live games, which he continued to accept.
→ One assignment became evidence that he could handle a larger live-broadcast workload.
For early Soccer Saturday features, Kamara trained with teams and interviewed players and managers. He then sat in the studio for six or seven hours to edit a roughly four-minute piece because he wanted responsibility for the work to be visible rather than attributed mainly to an editor.
→ He demonstrated ownership across production, not only on-camera performance.
Common mistakes
Expecting effort to guarantee success
Kamara says hard work matters but also acknowledges that lucky breaks can be decisive, especially in football. Treat the method as improving odds, not controlling outcomes.
Doing extra work with no useful outcome
The extra ownership should improve the result or reveal a relevant capability. Unfocused busyness does not create the same evidence.
Saying yes without boundaries
Kamara describes a strong reluctance to turn down work, while his wife reminds him he is allowed to say no. Availability should not erase health or personal limits.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for people in careers where assignments, reputation and repeat invitations compound.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal as a promise that effort alone can overcome structural barriers or guarantee success.
From the transcript
“do it and do it to the best of your ability and see where it takes you”
“from doing six hours of tv i became the go-to guy then for sky”
“sometimes it took six seven hours for a four minute piece”
From the episode
Chris Kamara: The Untold Heartbreaking Story Of A Football Legend