Page 60 - James Caan - The Real Deal
P. 60
Chapter 7
The Job That
Changed My Life
(1980)
‘ Most people instinctively knew that that their lives were
pretty boring, and the interviews became really interesting
when I was able to tell them that they could get rid of that
predictability. ’
n my first month at Alfred Marks I was feeling very
I confident, important even, but it quickly became clear that it
wasn’t quite me. Alfred Marks was a big plc, and that meant it
had a corporate structure, which as branch manager I was
expected to fit into. A major part of my job was monitoring
targets, making sure staff were getting their reviews, and checking
the financials. At first I felt quite sophisticated looking at reams
and reams of computer printouts, but I knew it wasn’t making the
best use of my skills.
I had worked in an accounts department, so I knew how to read
the figures, and I knew where to look on a spreadsheet to see if my
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