12 year old Shaheen JaFargholi

Much has been written in business about the value of playing to your strengths.  On my bookshelf alone, I’ve got a half dozen business titles that preach the concept.  As an entrepreneur, there is much to be learned from this video from the BBC show “Britain’s Got Talent”, where 12-year old Shaheen Jafargholi performed before the notorious Simon Cowell and company for the first time.

Shaheen stepped bravely on stage to perform a number that “his grand-dad really loves” – “Valerie,”  a number originally recorded by Amy Winehouse, who is a poster child for a strung-out, self-absorbed culture.  Not exactly the type of song that would be in the “wheelhouse” of a boy from Wales who just turned 12.  Just a few lines into the song, Simon stops everything and tells the young man, “You’ve got this really wrong”.  Simon saw with his experienced eye that, whatever Shaheen’s strengths as a performer, his choice of song wasn’t going to show it. Read More→

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