How Far Away Are You From the Client?

There are some phone calls you never forget.
 
This was one of them.
 
Around seven years ago, I was delivering Mental Resilience Masterclasses around the UK for a training company. We’d built a great relationship over several years, and everything was going really well.
 
Then one morning, my mobile phone rang.
 
“Hi John,” said one of the team. “How far away are you from the client?”
 
I laughed.
 
“What do you mean?”
 
“The masterclass starts this morning.”
 
My heart sank.
 
I opened my diary and immediately saw the problem.
 
I’d entered the presentation on the wrong date.
 
 
The Longest Drive
 
I apologised profusely and explained what had happened. She asked how quickly I could get there. The venue was about an hour away.
 
I rushed home, got changed, grabbed my laptop, projector, delegate packs and everything else I needed before setting off as quickly as I could.
 
Thankfully, the client agreed to wait.
 
During the drive, my mind was racing.
 
“You’ve blown it.”
 
“They’ll never use you again.”
 
“This is a disaster.”
 
Then I remembered something I’d been teaching delegates for years.
 
It’s not what happens to you. It’s how you respond.
 
I couldn’t change what had happened, but I could choose how I responded.
 
 
Preparation Saved Me
 
Fortunately, there was one thing working in my favour.
 
Two days earlier, I’d prepared everything. Every delegate pack had been printed, every exercise checked and every piece of equipment packed.
 
Preparation is one of those important but non-urgent activities that’s easy to postpone… until the day you desperately need it.
 
That morning, I was incredibly grateful I’d invested the time.
 
 
Ninety Minutes Late
 
Ninety minutes later, I walked into the boardroom.
 
Every delegate was waiting for me.
 
They weren’t smiling.
 
To make matters worse, a representative from the training company was there to observe the entire session and document my material for a new programme they were developing.
 
The pressure couldn’t have been much higher.
 
I took a deep breath, apologised sincerely and began.
 
 
An Incredible Turnaround
 
Something remarkable happened.
 
Within thirty minutes, people started smiling.
 
Soon they were asking questions.
 
By the afternoon, the room was full of discussion, laughter and energy.
 
At the end of the day, several delegates gave feedback and one said:
 
“That was the best masterclass I’ve ever attended.”
 
That experience taught me something I’ll never forget.
 
Mistakes do not define us.
 
Our response to mistakes does.
 
 
A Lesson from Rick Rescorla
 
It also reminded me of the remarkable story of Rick Rescorla, Head of Security at Morgan Stanley in the World Trade Centre.
 
After the 1993 bombing, Rick insisted on regular evacuation drills, despite many people believing they were unnecessary.
 
On 11th September 2001, those rehearsals proved invaluable. Because employees had practised exactly what to do, around 2,687 Morgan Stanley employees evacuated safely before the South Tower collapsed.
 
Sadly, Rick lost his own life while helping others to safety.
 
His story is a powerful reminder that preparation rarely seems important on an ordinary day.
 
It becomes priceless when the unexpected happens.
 
My situation that morning was insignificant compared with Rick’s, but the principle was exactly the same.
 
Because I’d prepared everything beforehand, I could focus on delivering the best session possible instead of worrying about forgotten equipment or missing handouts.
 
Preparation gave me one less problem to solve.
 
 
Your Response Is Your Choice
 
Perhaps that’s one of life’s greatest lessons.
 
We all hope difficult moments never come.
 
The reality is… they will
 
The question isn’t whether you’ll face pressure.
 
The question is…
 
How will you respond when you do?
 
 
Three Key Learnings
 
1. Preparation creates confidence. The work you do before the pressure arrives often determines how well you perform when it does.
 
2. Your inner voice matters. When things go wrong, the conversation you have with yourself will either increase the pressure or help you rise above it.
 
3. It’s not what happens. It’s how you respond. Every setback gives us a choice. We can focus on the problem or on our response.
 
 
Thoughts for the Week 

1. Prepare today for something that might become important tomorrow. 
2. When something goes wrong, make sure your inner voice is helping you rather than holding you back. 
3. Remember, you cannot always control what happens to you, but you can always control how you respond. 

 
Life will test every one of us.
 
The good news is that every test gives us another opportunity to choose our response.
 
And if we respond well enough, one day the setback we dreaded may become the story that encourages someone else never to give up.
 
 
Well, that’s it for this week.
 
Have a wonderful week ahead, and keep believing.
 
Warm regards,
 
John

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