School of hard knocks

My son completes his SA2 examinations tomorrow. Happy days are here again...

I assure you, I got a hell of an education. Most valuable of all, it was an education in the real world. Even though I hold an MBA, most of the indispensable lessons I learned came the hard way. Sometimes the lessons were painful and I got my ass kicked in more times than I can count.

But I learned now, how to identify which of my staff are "fighters" and which are stragglers. I also learn about myself - and that's the most valueable education anyone can get.

My three guiding principles were formed over the course of all these lessons from the school of hard knocks:

I will back my team members all the way when they take reasonable risks to help me achieve my goals.

I will not be pissed off with my people for making mistakes. I'll only be pissed off with them for not learning from their mistakes.

I will not be afraid to take action, because I know that almost any action is better than inaction.

ACE (2nd from right) and friends