Page 55 - James Caan - The Real Deal

6 · A Career in Recruitment

but I’d forgotten the golden rule of working in sales: you’re only
as good as your last month. I realised that I couldn’t carry on like
this because I was going to go broke, and get sacked. The novelty
had worn off and something had to change.
I was also starting to get quite a bit of pressure from my boss –
we had quarterly reviews and management meetings – and my
branch had always been bottom of the table. In the first three
quarters that hadn’t bothered me because the fun had compensated
for whatever embarrassment I experienced at those meetings, but
by the last quarter that pressure had started to mean more to me
than the fun. I’m not sure I know why that was, but something
kicked in and the part of me that wanted to amount to something
took over. Maybe I knew I was in danger of letting it all slide
away, and that meant giving my dad the chance to say ‘I told you
so.’ Somehow, I was going to have to sack my best mate. It wasn’t
an easy conversation.
‘Hi, Bernie.’
‘Hi, James, how did you get on with the blonde?’
‘I didn’t take her out.’
‘I had a wild time with that girl from Croydon, let me tell
you . . .’
‘Bernie, we need to talk.’
‘What’s up?’
‘Bern, this just isn’t working. I’ve got to ask you to leave.’
‘Good one, James.’
‘No, I’m serious.’
‘You’re firing me?’
‘It’s just not working. Two best mates . . . we’re just playing.’
He was shocked and angry, and he pitched quite hard to keep
his job. But even though he promised things would be different, I
had to let him go. Looking back, I see that day as the real start of
my career: firing my best mate was when I started taking work
seriously.

45