Page 206 - James Caan - The Real Deal

The Real Deal

‘Why don’t you just join a London forum?’ I asked.
‘You haven’t joined a forum, have you?’
‘How can you tell?’
‘You just wouldn’t have asked the question if you had.’
He convinced me of the value of belonging to a forum. In
business, you are so often concerned with your shareholders, your
directors, your customers, your rivals or your staff that you don’t
often think of yourself. Forum discussions, he told me, helped you
make decisions that were right for you. Being in sole charge of an
organisation is a big responsibility, and it was helpful to talk to
other people who understood that burden. So often there are
things you just can’t discuss with anyone else either because you
will make them worry or because it’s commercially sensitive. So I
signed up for a forum, and I think I’ve only ever missed one
meeting since. No matter what position I find myself in – being
approached for a takeover, approaching someone else for a
takeover, poaching a senior member of staff – someone in my
forum has been there first. There is a rule that what is said in
forum stays in forum, and over the years a phenomenal amount of
trust has built up between me and the other members. No matter
what stage you’re at in life, having a support network of allies is
incredibly valuable.

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