Consequences...

Back in my corporate days, just after I got the top job, I visited a historically difficult client. Flushed with the ‘power’ of my new position I’ll admit that I behaved like a bit of an arse, and failed to show the Client the respect he deserved, difficult or not. A few weeks later I got a call from my boss - a big deal in Russia was in trouble because they had reached out to their UK office for a reference…

I was ordered to go back to the Client and apologise.

That situation taught me two very valuable lessons :

1. Don’t be an arse, and
2. Every action has a consequence, so ALWAYS make sure your actions are good…